
Class 

Book.___ 
Cop>7ighTN?__ 



CQEZRIGKT DEPOSa: 



/ ^ 







GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



A HISTORY 



THE UNITED STATES 



BY 



ALLEN C. THOMAS, A.M. 

Professor of History in Haverford College, Pennsylvania 



BOSTON, U.S.A. 

D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS 

1900 



PREFACE. 



The aim of this work is to give the main facts of the 
history of the United States clearly, accurately, and im- 
partially. In the belief that the importance of the events 
which have occurred since the adoption of the Constitution 
is becoming more and more recognized, much the greater 
part of the book is devotad to the era beginning with 1789. 
The period of discovery and colonization, however, is treated 
with sufficient fulness to show clearly the origins of the 
people and of their institutions. 

Throughout, special attention is given to the political, 
social, and economic development of the nation. While the 
details of battles are omitted, the importance of war periods 
is not underestimated, but the stress is laid upon causes and 
results. 

The portraits are taken from authentic sources, and the 
other illustrations are nearly all reproductions from contem- 
j)orary prints. The courtesy of F. D. Stone of the Penn- 
sylvania Historical Society, of Henry T. Coates, and of The 
Magazine of American History Company, has permitted the 
reproduction of some of these. To the kindness of Townsend 
MacCoun the author is indebted for two of the maps. In- 



Vi PREFACE. 

debtedness to Professor A. B. Hart's excellent series of 
"Epoch Maps," published by Longmans & Company, should 
also be acknowledged. 

The author is under obligations for valuable assistance to 
a number of teachers and others, among them Watson W, 
Dewees of Westtown School, Pennsylvania, and Sidney S, 
Rider of Providence, Rhode Island. To L. H. Jones, Super- 
intendent of Schools of Indianapolis, Indiana, and W. A. 
Mowr}^, Superintendent of Schools, Salem, Massachusetts, 
who read the work in manuscript, special acknowledgments 
should be made. 

Haverford, Pennsylvania, December, 1893. 

PREFACE TO THE REVISED EDITION. 



The chief feature of the present edition is a new chapter 
bringing the narrative to the close of the year 1899. The 
book has been carefully revised, errors, so far as discovered, 
have been corrected, and some changes have been made in 
the text for the sake of greater clearness and fulness. The 
bibliography in Appendix XII. has been thoroughly revised 
and enlarged. 

January, 1900. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I, Discovery . 1 

II. Colonization . . . . . . , , , .11 

III. English, French, and Indians 40 

IV. Struggle for Colonial Empire 69 

V. The English Colonies 80 

VI. The Revolution 100 

VII. The Confederation — The Constitution . . . . 132 

VIII. Organization of the New Government .... 144 

IX. Experiments in Foreign and Domestic Policy . . 160 

X. War with Great Britain 171 

XI. The Thirty Years' Peace 182 

XII. The Thirty Years' Peace {continued) .... 201 

XIII. The Mexican War, and Slavery ..... 236 

XIV. Increase of Sectional Feeling ...... 262 

XV. Civil War 276 

XVI. Civil War {continued) ....... 310 

XVII. Reconstruction 331 

XVIII. The New Nation 344 

XIX. Growth and Development ....... 360 

XX. Economic, Social, and Literary Conditions . . . 399 

XXI. Social Affairs ; Politics ; Diplomacy . . . . 411 

XXII. The War avith Spain, and Territorial Expansion . 419 

vii 



Vlll 



CONTENTS. 



APPENDICES. 



1. 
ii. 
iii. 

iv. 

V. 



Vll. 

viii. 
ix. 

X, 

xi. 
xii. 



Eacl 



, and 



Mayflower Compact ....... 

Declaration of Independence .... 

Constitution of the United States . . 
Abraham Lincohi's Second Inaugural . . 
Date of the Admission of the States, Square Miles in 

Population in 1890, etc 

Growth of United States — Population at Each Census, also the 

Urban Population 

Population of the Free and Slave States, 1790-1860 
Representation in Congress from 1790 to 1893 
List of the Presidents and Vice-Presidents . 
Chief Dates in American History .... 

Topical Analysis 

List of Books for Teachers and Readers 



PAGE 

iii 

iv 

viii 

XXV 



. XXIX 
. XXX 

. xxxi 
xxxii 
xxxiii 
xxxix 
. liii 



INDEX . . lix 



LIST OF MAPS. 



OPPOSITE PAGE 

1. European Colonies about 1G50 27 

2. French Explorations and Posts (colored) ..... 53 

3. Central North America, 1755 (colored) 78 

4. Central North America, 1763 (colored) 78 

5. The Revolution, Northern and Middle States .... Ill 
0. The Revolution, Southern States 127 

7. Land Claims of the Thirteen Original States (colored) . . . 133 

8. Maps for the War of 1812 175 

9. The United States in 1825 (double page, colored) .... 196 

10. Mexican AVar (in text) 239 

11. Civil War, 1861-1865 (double page, colored) 282 

12. Campaigns in Virginia (in text) 308 

13. Territorial Growth of the United States (double page, colored) . 338 

14. The United States, 1893 (double page, colored) . . . .394 



FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Washington, after the Athenaeum portrait by Gilbert Stuart Frontispiece 

OPPOSITE PAGE 

Christopher Columbus ; the Ministry of Marine Portrait ... 4 
William Penn, after the only authentic portrait, in the possession of 

the Pennsylvania Historical Society 41 

Benjamin Franklin, after a portrait by J. A. Duplessis . . . .116 

Alexander Hamilton, after a portrait by Trumbull . . . , 148 

John Marshall, after a portrait by H. Inman 158 

Thomas Jefferson, after a portrait by Gilbert Stuart . . . .165 

Andrew Jackson 202 

John C. Calhoun 206 

Daniel Webster 216 

Henry Clay 248 

Robert E. Lee, after a photograph from life . , 290 

Abraham Lincoln, after a photograph from life by Brady in 1865 . 326 

Ulysses S. Grant, after a photograph from life 345 

X 



ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT. 



PAGE 

1. An Indian Village, after a drawing by John White, 1585 . . 3. 

2. Ship of 1492, after a drawing of 1494 (?) 5 

3. Amerigo Vespucci, after a portrait in possession of the Massachu- 

setts Historical Society 7 

4. Sir Walter Ralegh, after the portrait at Longleat .... 9 

5. Captain John Smith, from the portrait on his map of New Eng- 

land, 1614 .13 

6. A Puritan Gentleman, 1G20, from an old print .... 15 

7. A Citizen of 1620, from an old print 16 

8. Myles Standish's Kettle and Platter, after a drawing from the 

originals 17 

9. John Endicott, after a portrait painted in 1665 .... 18 

10. Ship, from Lucini's map of "Nuoua Belgia," 1631 (?) ... 19 

11. Countrywoman of 1620, from Speed's map of England ... 20 

12. A Puritan Gentleman, 1646, from Jeffrey's Dresses ... 21 

13. Cecilius Calvert, after an engraved portrait in possession of Mary- 

land Historical Society 25 

14. James Edward Oglethorpe in 1785, after a print of the sketch from 

life by Ireland 33 

15. New Amsterdam, from Van Der Donck's map of the New Nether- 

lands, 1656 35 

16. Peter Stuyvesant 36 

17. Jacob Leisler's House 37 

18. Belt of Wampum given to William Penn, after the original in pos- 

session of the Pennsylvania Historical Society .... 45 
xi 



xii ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 



19. An Indian Chief, after the drawing by John White, 1585, in 

Hariot's Narrative 48 

20. An Indian Woman, after a drawing by John White, 1585, in 

Hariot's Narrative . . 49 

21. Myles Standish House, built 1656 51 

22. Wliipping at the Cart's Tail, after a contemporary print of 1650 . 58 

23. The Pillory, after a contemporary print of 1685 .... 59 

24. A Drunkard 60 

25. A Pine-Tree Shilling 61 

26. Colonial Flax- Wheel 62 

27. Boston, Massachusetts, about 1660, from an old print ... 64 

28. Stage Coach of 1731, from a print of 1731 65 

29. Stamp of 1765, after a print in "Independence Hall" by F. M. 

Etting 84 

30. John Hancock's House, from a print 92 

31. Carpenter's Hall, 1774, after an old print 97 

32. Colonial Flag 104 

33. Liberty Bell 106 

34. Independence Hall, 1776, from an old print . . . . .107 

35. Charles Thomson 107 

36. Continental Currency, face, from an original bill . . facing 122 

37. Continental Currency (back of No. 36) .... facing 122 

38. Robert Morris (The National Portrait Gallery) . . . .124 

39. Celebration of the Adoption of the Constitution in New York, 

from a contemporary print . . . . . . .139 

40. Federal Hall, 1789, from Massachusetts Magazine, May, 1789 . 145 

41. Eli Whitney, after a portrait by King 150 

42. John Jay, 1786, from a portrait by Joseph Wright . . . 153 

43. John Adams (The National Portrait Gallery) .... 155 

44. Robert Fulton 169 

45. The Clermont^ after a contemporary print 170 

46. James Madison 171 ^i 

47. James Monroe, after a portrait by J. Vanderlyn .... 183 Tj 

48. John Quincy Adams 193 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Xlll 







PAGE 


49. 


Lafayette 


. 195 


50. 


The Savannah 


. 210 


5L 


" Coiiestoga " Wagon, and a Stage- Coach 


. 211 


52. 


John Ericsson 


. 214 


53. 


Martin Van Buren ....... 


. 220 


54. 


William Henry Harrison ..... 


. 225 


55. 


John Tyler ........ 


. 226 


56. 


Samuel F. B. Morse ...... 


. 220 


57. 


James K. Polk 


. 234 


58. 


Zachary Taylor 


. 247 


59. 


Voting-place in Kansas, 1855, after a photograph . 


. 261 


60. 


James Buchanan 


. 266 


6L 


Abraham Lincoln in 1860 ..... 


. 269 


62. 


Jefferson Davis in 1860 . 


. 271 


63. 


William H. Seward ...... 


. 274 


64. 


Confederate Flag . . . . ... 


. 279 


65. 


" Stonewall " Jackson ...... 


. 292 


66. 


William T. Sherman ...... 


. 311 


67. 


Andrew Johnson ....... 


. 332 


68. 


Horace Greeley ....... 


. . .349 


69. 


Rutherford B. Hayes ...... 


. 361 


70. 


James A. Garfield . . . 


.366 


7L 


George Peabody ....... 


. 372 


72. 


Grover Cleveland ..... . . 


. 375 


73. 


Benjamin Harrison ...... 


. 382 


74. 


Flag of the United States 


. 384 


75. 


Centre of Population, 1890 , 


. 389 


76. 


Edgar A. Poe ........ 


. 408 


77. 


Henry W. Longfellow ...... 


. 409 


78. 


Nathaniel Hawthorne 


. 409 


79. 


John G. Whittier . 


. 410 


80. 


An Indian Chief . . . . = . . 


. 000 


81. 


William McKinley ....... 


. 000 



HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER L 

DISCOVERY. 
REFERENCES. 

General. — George Bancroft, History of the United States, i. 7-83; Rich- 
ard Hildreth, History of the United States, i. 35-98; Bryant and Gay, A 
Popular History of the United States, i. 1-267, well illustrated ; T. W. Hig- 
ginson, A Larger History of the United States, pp. 1-107, finely illustrated; 
John Fiske, The Discovery of America, 2 vols,, graphic and clear in style ; 
J. A. Doyle, History of the United States, pp. 1-40 ; Epochs of American 
History, R. G. Thwaits, The Colonies, pp. 1-44 ; American History Series, 
G. P. Fisher, The Colonial Era, pp. 1-29. 

Special. — For Geography and Physiography : N. S. Shaler, The Physiog- 
raphy of North America, in Winsor's Narrative and Critical History of Amer- 
ica, iv., pp. i.-xxx.; N. S. Shaler, The United States, vol. i., or his Story of 
our Continent; J. D. Whitney, The United States, pp. 1-128. 

For Prehistoric America: J. W.Powell, The Forum, viii. 489; Winsor, 
Narrative and Critical History of America, i. 329-444 ; Nadaillac, Prehistoric 
America ; American History Leaflets, No. 3, Extracts from the Sagas ; Old 
South Leaflets, No. 31, "The Voyages to Vinland." 

For the Indians : F. Parkman, Conspiracy of Pontiac, pp. 1-45, also Intro- 
duction to his Jesuits in North America ; N. S. Shaler, Story of our Continent, 
Chap. iv. ; Winsor, Narrative and Critical ^istory of America, i. 283-316 ; 
H. H. Bancroft, Native Races of the Pacific States, i. 1-28 ; J. W. Powell, 
The Forum, xv. 343 ; G. Bancroft, History of the United States, ii. 86-136. 

For Columbus and the Period of Discovery : C. K. Adams, Columbus, 
(Makers of America Series); P. L. Ford, Writings of Columbus, N.Y. 1892 ; 
W. Irving, Life of Columbus ; Century Magazine, May and October, 1892, 
illustrated; Harper's Magazine, October, 1892; Magazine of American His- 
tory, vols, for 1892 ; "Where did Columbus Land?" Nineteenth Century, 
October, 1892 ; " Amerigo Vespucci," Harper's Magazine, May, 1892 ; Amer- 

1 



2 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

ican History Leaflets, No. 1, Letter of Columbus; No. 9, Voyages of John 
Cabot; Old South Leaflets, No. 17, Verrazzano's Voyage, 1524; No. 20, Cor- 
onado's Letter to Mendoza, 1540 ; No. 29, The Discovery of America ; No. 33, 
Columbus's Letter to Sanches; No. 34, Americus Vespucius's Account of 
his First Voyage ; No. 35, Cortez's Account of the City of Mexico ; No. 36, 
The Death of De Soto ; No. 37, The Voyage of the Cabots. F. Tarducci, 
John and Sebastian Cabot (translated from the Italian). 

1. North America : its Inhabitants. (1492.) — Four hundred 
years ago the territory now known as the United States was 
a vast wilderness, occupied rather than settled by numerous 
tribes of red men, or Indians, as they have since been called. 
Roving from place to place in search of game upon which 
they chiefly depended for food, they seem to have made little 
progress toward civilization during the centuries of their 
occupation of the land. They tilled a little land, but in a 
rude way, raising tobacco and a few vegetables, and also maize. 
Occasionally they built rude timber houses of one story, but 
for the most part they lived in rude huts, or in wigwams, a 
kind of tent made by setting poles in the ground and bend- 
ing them over or bringing them together at the top, and 
covering the whole with skins or with mats. In the south- 
west the tribes were more civilized and built more substantial 
dwellings. As the Indian men disdained to work, nearly all 
the manual labor fell upon the women. 

It is possible that this condition of the hunter stage re- 
maining so long unchanged was due in a great degree to the 
absence of native animals which could be domesticated, as 
was remarkably the case in the Mississippi valley and on the 
Atlantic slope. The turkey is the only domestic animal 
North America has furnished ; for though the horse existed 
at one time in America, it was not known to the Indian. 

Farther to the south, on the borders of Mexico and within 
its bounds, and also in Central America, there were men 
showing a considerable degree of civilization, but with them 



THE INDIANS. 3 

the Indian of the central portions of the continent seems to 
have had little if any intercourse. 

In Ohio and in some of the western states many remains 
in the form of mounds and enclosures have been found, and 
the implements and ornaments discovered in these have led 




AN INDIAN VILLAGE. 



some to believe that a race superior to the Indians inhabited 
this continent centuries before its discovery by Europeans ; 
but recent investigations show that the Mound Builders, as 
they have been called, were probably Indians. 

2. The Indians. (1492.) — At the time of the discovery of 
the continent, the present territory of the United States was 



4 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

occupied by a race which has been divided into four principal 
groups based upon language : — 

(1) The Algonkins, the most numerous, who held the 
larger part of the country from South Carolina and Tennessee 
to the Great Lakes, and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mis- 
sissippi River. They were very rude and warlike. 

(2) The Iroquois, who were chiefly found in what is now 
central and western New York and in North Carolina. Those 
in New York were the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayu- 
gas, and Senecas, and were known by the name of the " Five 
Nations." When those who lived in North Carolina — the 
Tuscaroras — joined them in 1713, they were called the "Six 
Nations." The Hurons, who lived near the lake of the same 
name, though Iroquois, were hostile to the " Five Nations." 

(3) The Southern Indians, sometimes called the Muskogee 
family, occupied the country south of the Algonkins. The 
most important of this group were the Creeks, Chickasaws, 
Choctaws, and Seminoles. They were less savage than the 
other groups and more readil}^ adopted the habits and cus- 
toms of civilization. 

(4) The Sioux or Dakotas occupied the country along and 
beyond the Mississippi River, and were the wildest of all. 

3. The Northmen. (900-1000.) — There is but little doubt 
that, somewhere about the year 1000, Norwegian sailors, often 
called Northmen, had extended their voyages from Iceland to 
Greenland, and thence to Labrador ; possibly they may have 
sailed along the coast of North America as far as Rhode 
Island, which some think is the Vinland of the old Sagas. 
Some even think that traces of their settlements can still be 
seen within the bounds of the present United States. Doubt- 
less the news of their discovery was carried home ; but Nor- 
way was an out-of-the-way country whose inhabitants were 




CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 



COLUMBUS; AMERICA. 5 

dreaded by the rest of Europe as freebooters, and their stories 
would hardly have been believed, even if carried to other 
Europeans. If these stories were known, they were forgotten, 
and even in Norway the knowledge of the existence of a 
western continent had faded away. It is also by no means 
improbable that French fishermen from Brittany had visited 
the Banks of Newfoundland and the island of the same name 
before 1492. 



4. Columbus ; Discovery of America. (1485-1492.) — For 

centuries Europe had been supplied with silks, spices, and 
luxuries generally, from India and 
the East. These had been brought 
through Constantinople ; but when ®Ct^|UC^ 
that city fell before the semi-bar- 
barous Turks in 1453, a new route 
to India seemed a necessity, and 
men tried to reach that country by 
sailing south from the sti^its of 
Gibraltar. But Christopher Colum- 
bus, a skilled navigator, a native of 
Genoa, after much study and with 
much experience in the designing 
of maps, had come to the conclu- 
sion that in order to reach India, 
all that was necessary was to sail 
west from Europe. Without means to fit out an expedition 
himself, he tried in turn to induce the governments of Genoa, 
Portugal, England, and Spain to aid him. He was unsuc- 
cessful for a long time. One after another refused to assist 
him. Isabella, queen of Spain, alone, moved possibly by the 
thought of benefiting the heathen, inclined to aid him ; but 
it was not until seven tedious years of waiting had passed, 




SHIP OF 1492! 



6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

that he was furnished with money to fit out three small 
vessels for an apparently foolhardy expedition. The little 
fleet sailed from Palos, Spain, August 3, 1492, and on the 
morning of October 12 land was discovered, an island of 
the Bahama group. This island he named San Salvador, the 
12th of October bearing that name in the Roman calendar.^ 

The account of the trials, the eventful voyage, and the 
ultimate success of Christopher Columbus must ever remain 
one of the most thrilling stories of history. 

The news of the discover}^ by Columbus created a great 
stir on his return, and at once preparations were made, not 
only in Spain, but elsewhere, to send expeditions to the new 
country which, then and for a long time, was believed by 
many to be a part of India. Hence the name by which the 
inhabitants were called. 

Columbus made three other voyages ; but though he vis- 
ited Central America, he never saw the continental part of 
North America. 

5. The Cabots; the Name of America. (1493-1507.) — The 

maritime nations of Europe in the sixteenth century were 
Spain, Portugal, France, and England, and all the early dis- 
coveries were made under the auspices of some one of these 
countries. The Spanish discoveries were south of Virginia ; 
Portugal, by agreement with Spain, confined her attention to 
Africa, the East Indies, and Brazil ; France devoted most 
of her energies to lands lying along the St. Lawrence, and to 
Acadie, now Nova Scotia; while England, through John 
Cabot and his son Sebastian, had discovered the continent 
of North America in 1497 ; and in a subsequent voyage 
Sebastian Cabot sailed along the whole coast from Cape 

1 This island was probably that now known as Watling's Island. October 
12 old style, October 21 according to present reckoning. 



THE NAME OF AMERICA. 7 

Breton to Albemarle Sound, claiming it for the English 
king.i 

Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine, but residing in Spain, 
between 1499 and 1503 made four voyages to South Amer- 
ica. In 1504 an account of 
his voyages was printed ; and 
in 1507 Waldseemiiller, a Ger- 
man, a teacher of geography in 
France, who had been much 
interested in the accounts of 
Vespucci, printed a small book 
in Latin, with the title, "An 
Introduction to Geography," in 
which occurs this sentence : 
"And the fourth part of the 
world having been discovered 
by Amerigo or Americus, we 
may call it Amerige or Amer- 
ica." This name, which at first 

was applied to South America onl}^, was soon extended to 
both continents ; but there is nothing to show that Vespucci 
did anything personally to gain this honor. 

6. Further Discoveries ; the Pacific ; Balboa ; Magellan ; De 
Soto. (1512-1542.) — In 1513 Ponce de Leon sailed on a 
voyage of discovery from Porto Rico, and on Maich 27 
(Easter Sunday) discovered the shore of a country which he 
called Florida, from the Spanish name of the day, Paseua 
Florida (the feast of flowers). In 1513 Balboa, crossing the 
Isthmus of Darien, was the first European to see the Pacific, 




AMERIGO VESPUCCI. 



1 The Cabots were natives of Venice, but lived at Bristol, England. John 
Cabot appears to have been the moving spirit, but his son has received the 
glory. The accounts of the Cabots' explorations are short and unsatisfactory. 



8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

which he called " the South Sea." Descending from the 
height from which he first saw the ocean, he rushed into 
the water, with drawn sword, claiming it for his sovereign, 
the king of Spain. These adventurers were both Spaniards. 
Under the auspices of Spain, Magellan (in Portuguese Magal- 
haens) first discovered the true geographical character of the 
new world. Sailing from Spain in 1519, he coasted along 
the eastern shores of South America, and reaching the straits 
which now bear his name, he sailed through them and con- 
tinued his voyage some distance up the western coast, and then 
boldly turned west across the ocean, which, from its peaceful 
character, he had alread}^ called the Pacific. Five vessels and 
two hundred and fifty-four men started out on this voyage, 
but only one vessel and fifteen men reached Spain (1522) ; 
Magellan was killed by the natives at the Philippine Islands. 
This Avas the first circumnavigation of the world. 

Cortez, in 1519, landed in Mexico, and within two years 
conquered it for Spain. De Soto, a Spaniard, in 1539, sailed 
from Cuba, and, landing at Tampa Bay on the west coast of 
Florida, set out on an overland expedition mainly in search 
for gold. The explorers wandered about for two years, and 
at last, after many privations, in the spring of 1541 reached 
the Mississippi River, then for the first time seen by white 
men. In 1542 De Soto died, and through fear of the Ind- 
ians his body was buried at midnight in the waters of the 
great stream which he discovered. His companions finally 
reached the Spanish settlement in Mexico. 

7. English Attempts at Colonization ; Sir Walter Ralegh. 
(1576-1602.) — The men of that day were so full of the idea 
of getting to India, or were so much taken up with affairs 
at liome, that it was long before definite plans of coloniza- 
tion were tliought of. It was not until 1576 that Martin 



SIR WALTER RALEGH. 



Frobisher, an Englishman, attempted to make a settlement on 
the coast of Labrador. This enterprise was a failure, as was 
also a similar expedition in 1578 under Sir Humphrey Gil- 
bert, who was not disheartened, but made a second attempt, 
in which he lost his life, in 1583. In 1584 Sir Walter Ralegh, 
a half-brother of Gilbert, sent out an exploring expedition, 
the vessels of which sailed 
along the coast of what is 
now North Carolina. Glow- 
ing accounts were brought 
back; Ralegh called the 
country Virginia in honor 
of Elizabeth, his virgin 
queen, and made prepara- 
tions to send out a colony, 
which was sent in 1585. 
Neither knowing how to 
prepare themselves for 
such a life nor how to 
utilize the resources of the 
country, these colonists 
settled on Roanoke Island, 
off the coast of North Car- 
olina, and almost suffered 
death from want before a 
ship arrived to look after 
them. They all returned 
to England ; but Ralegh, not discouraged, sent out another 
colony in 1587 to the same place. When an expedition 
visited the site three years afterward, all the colonists had 
disappeared, and with them Virginia Dare, the first child 
born in America of English parents. It has never been cer- 
tainly discovered what became of them, though recent re- 




SIR WALTER RALEGH. 



10 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

searches indicate that the few survivors joined a neighboring 
tribe of Indians, intermarrying with them. In 1602 Barthol- 
omew Gosnold attempted to make a settlement on Cutty- 
hunk, an island in Buzzards Bay, in Massachusetts, but it 
was unsuccessful. So, though more than a century had 
passed since the discovery of America, there was not a 
single English colony on the American coast. 

8. French and Spanish Attempts at Colonization. (1540- 
1605.) — The English were not alone in their failures; 
France had made various attempts at colonization also, at 
what was afterwards Quebec (1540) ; at Port Royal, South 
Carolina (15(32); and near St. Augustine, Florida (1564). 
Spain had been more successful at St. Augustine (1565), and 
at Santa F^ (1582), and also in Mexico. The French were 
successful after 1605, but their colonies were confined to 
what is now Nova Scotia and to Canada. At first sight it 
may seem strange that there should have been so many fail- 
ures, but this feeling disappears when it is remembered that 
the main object of the colonists had been to get gold, of 
which it was believed there was an abundance in the new 
world. Few men went out fully intending to be permanent 
settlers. The expeditions consisted mostly of those who 
could not get on at home, and thought they could escape 
hard work by going to the country where they believed 
^erything was to be had by merely picking it up. Then, 
again, the parties were few in number, unable to protect 
themselves against the hostile Indians, Avere cut off from 
help or supplies from home, and were, moreover, totally 
ignorant of the country itself and its requirements in regard 
to clothing, crops, and climate- 



CHAPTER II. 

COLONIZATION. 
REFERENCES. 

General. — G. Bancroft, History of the United States, i. 84-613 ; ii. 3-85, 
192-291; K. Hildretli, History of the United States, i. Chaps, iv.-xv.; ii. 
Chaps, xvi.-xvii., xix.-xxv. ; Bryant and Gay, Popular History of the United 
States, vols, i., ii. ; T. W. Higginson, Larger History of the United States, 
pp. 75-168 ; J. A. Doyle, History of the United States, Chaps, ii.-xiv., also 
his larger work, The English Colonies in America (three volumes published) ; 
H. C. Lodge, Short History of the English Colonies in America; R. G. 
Thwaites, The Colonies (Epochs of American History), pp. 45-232 ; G. P. 
Fisher, The Colonial Era (American History Series), Chaps, iv.-xxi. ; John 
Fiske, The Beginnings of New England ; J. M. Ludlow, The War of Ameri- 
can Independence (Epoch Series), pp. 1-55. 

Biographies. — William Gammell, Roger Williams, Sparks\s American 
Biography, 2d Series ; O. S. Straus,* Roger Williams ; John Winthrop, Francis 
Higginson, Thomas Hooker, George and Cecilius Calvert, Peter Stuyvesant, 
and James Edward Oglethorpe, in the Makers of America Series. 

Special. — For the several colonies see Virginia, Maryland, New York, 
and Connecticut, in the American Commonwealth Series (these must be used 
with care, some of them, Maryland and Connecticut in particular, needing 
correction in matters of detail and inference) ; Winsor, Narrative and Criti- 
cal History of America, vols, iii., iv., v., particularly the monographs on The 
Carolinas, Maryland, New England, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania ; G. W. 
Greene, History of Rhode Island ; C. F. Adams, Three Episodes in Massachu- 
setts History ; James Grant Wilson, The Memorial History of New York 
City. For William Penn consult S. M. Janney, Life of William Penn, pp. 
163-274, 394-563 ; J. Stoughton, Life of William Penn. For the Pilgrims 
and Puritans see British Quarterly Review, January, 1883 ; Bancroft, His- 
tory of the United States, i. 177-214 ; Bacon's Rebellion, Century Magazine, 
xl. 418 ; Old South Leaflets, No. 7, Charter of Massachusetts Bay, 1629 ; 
No. 8, Fundamental Orders of Connecticut; No. 21, Eliot's Brief Narrative. 
Consult list of American History Leaflets, and of Old South Leaflets. 

11 



12 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

9. English Success ; Captain John Smith. (1606-1609.) — It 

was in 1606 that the first successful English colony was 
planted. During this year James I. granted a charter to two 
companies: one the London, the other the Plymouth com- 
pany. To the former was granted the coast between 34° 
and 38° north latitude, and to the latter the coast between 
41° and 45° north latitude. .The intervening country was to 
be common to both, but no settlements of the respective com- 
panies were to be within one hundred miles of each other. 
The interior limit for both companies was to be one hundred 
miles from the coast. A plan of government for the colonies 
was provided, and the London Company began operations by 
sending out a party of settlers to Virginia, and the first per- 
manent settlement was made in 1607 at Jamestown, on the 
James Kiver, not far from the present town of that name. 
Among the colonists who went to Virginia was Captain 
John Smith. He had already seen many adventures on the 
continent of Europe ; but in spite of his love for marvellous 
stories, he appears to have been the ablest and clearest- 
headed of the motley party. He 'relates that at one time he 
was taken prisoner by the Indians, that his head was already 
on the block upon which his brains were to be beaten out, 
when Pocahontas, the daughter of Powhatan, the chief, 
rushed up to her father and begged the life of the prisoner. 
As the Indian princess was only twelve years old when the 
incident is said to have occurred, and the account did not 
appear in the first edition of Smith's book, but was added 
while the heroine was in England, many modern students 
disbelieve the whole story. Pocahontas, however, was a real 
character; she married John Rolfe, an Englishman, visited 
England, and died there. Many Virginians are proud to trace 
then- descent from this Indian woman. Smith was chosen 
president of the council, and thus became the real governor 



VIRGINIA COLONY; SLAVES. 



13 



of the settlement His rule was just, being based on the 
principle that those who did not work should not eat ; but 
this style of government did not suit the colonists, and in 
1609 Captain Smith returned to England, his departure being 
made necessary, as he said, on ac- 
count of a severe accident which 
had befallen him. Some modern 
investigators are of the opinion 
that the accident was by no means 
so severe as Smith reported, and 
that it was used by him as a pre- 
text to escape from a trying and 
unprofitable position. While in 
Virginia Captain Smith explored 
Chesapeake Bay and published a 
careful map of it. This map is 
almost too accurate a one to have been made with the rude 
instruments and inefficient means at Smith's command. 




CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



10. Virginia Colony ; Slaves. (1609-1619.) — The colony 
suffered much, and very nearl}" came to a melancholy end. 
In 1609 the company received a new charter extending the 
limits north and south, and also from sea to sea, west and 
northwest. In these charters was the provision that the 
colonists and their children " shall have and enjoy all the 
liberties, franchises, and immunities of free denizens and 
natural subjects within any of our other dominions, to all 
intents and purposes as if they had been abiding and born 
within this our realm of England, or in any other of our 
dominions." It was largely upon this clause, and other 
similar ones repeated in later charters, that the American 
colonists rightly based their complaints of unjust treatment 
by the mother country. 



14 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

In 1619 the Virginia colonists, who had been granted a ' 
partly representative government, elected a House of Bur- 
gesses, the first representative bod}^ that met in America. 
The same year in which this step towards free government 
was taken, a Dutch ship brought the first cargo of negro 
slaves to the colony. 

11. Dutch Colonies; New Netherland. (1609-1626.) — Swedish 
Colonies. (1638.) — Holland was at this time a strong naval 
power, and in 1609 Henry Hudson, an Englishman in her 
service, discovered and sailed up the river wliich bears 
his name. He also explored the New Jersey coast to Dela- 
ware Bay. A small trading post was established in 1613 on 
Manhattan Island, and in 1614, at Fort Nassau, near where 
Albany now is. In 1621 the Dutch West India Company 
was organized, and under its auspices Fort Amsterdam, after- 
wards the city of New York, was established in 1626, the 
island of Manhattan, upon whicli it stood, having been pur- 
chased of the Indians the same year for about twenty-four 
dollars. The Dutch bought the land from the natives, whom 
they generally treated well ; but owing to the obstinac}^ and 
want of tact of Governor Kieft, there was a terrible war with 
the Algonkin Indians (1648-1645). Fortunately for the 
Dutch, the Iroquois were not involved in this war. Anne 
Hutchinson (Sect. 19) was massacred in this war. 

Sweden, which had become a great power under Gustavus 
Adolphus, determined also to send out colonists, and in 
1638 established a settlement at Christina, near the site of 
Wilmington, Delaware, and later, other settlements along the 
Delaware River, as far as the site of Philadelphia, where the 
''Old Swedes' Church" still tells of their former presence. 
Thrust in as they were between the Dutch and the English 
settlements, the Swedish colonies amounted to but little. 



I 



PLYMOUTH COMPANY. 



15 



12. Plymouth Company. (1607.) — The Plymouth Company 
had attempted to place a colony near the mouth of the 
Kennebec River in 1607, but the colony, like so many other 
similar attempts, was a failure. In 1620 a new company, 
under the name of '' The Council of Plymouth for the 
governing of New England," was organized, and to this 
company was granted the land between the parallels of 40"^ 
and 48° north latitude, and westward to the south seas, but 
it sent out no expedition on its own account. 

Captain John Smith (sect. 9), who had re- 
mained quietly in England since his return 
from Virginia, left England again in the 
year 1614, and sailed along the Atlantic 
coast from Penobscot to Cape Cod in search 
of fish and furs, and in his account of the 
voyage, which he published on his return, 
he gave the name of New England to the 
country. Previously it had been called 
Norumbega. 

13. The Pilgrims. (1620.) — It is an inter- 
esting and instructive circumstance that 
much of the territory of the present United 
States was settled by men who sought in a 
new world that liberty to worship God in 
their own way which was denied them at home. Outward 
conformity to a state church was one of the cardinal doctrines 
of the seventeenth century, and, to escape this, some men and 
women who did not agree with the practices of the Church 
of England, had emigrated to Holland to gain that liberty of 
worship refused to them in their English home. First at 
Amsterdam, and afterward at Leyden also, these refugees 
found safety. But not willing that their children should 




A PURITAN GENTLE- 
MAN, 1620. 



16 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 




grow up among strangers speaking a different language, and 
for other reasons, also, wishing to change their abode, they 
made application to the Virginia Company for land in Amer- 
ica on which to settle. All arrangements having been com- 
pleted, one hundred and two Pilgrims, as 
they are now called, set sail from Plymouth 
in England on the Mayfloiver for the new 
home. The voyage was a stormy one, and 
driven from their course, they reached Cape 
Cod instead of the coast belonging to the 
Virginia Company. They, however, de- 
cided to remain where they were. It 
seemed wise to provide for some govern- 
ment in the colony, and, before landing, 
there was drawn up in the cabin of their 
little ship the celebrated '-^Mayflower Com- 
pact," which was signed by all the men. 
In it they agreed to combine themselves 
into a " body politic," and to submit to such " just and equal 
laws" as might be framed for the general good of the 
colony. Appendix I. 

14. Landing of the Pilgrims ; Trials of the Colonists. (1620- 
1627.) — After examining the shore of Cape Cod, the Pilgrims 
chose a spot for their future home, and landed on Plymouth 
rock December 21, 1620.1 

The colonists had a desperate struggle with the keenness of 
a New England winter; they suffered from ill health, and 
afterwards were at great disadvantage from the poverty of 

1 Owing to a miscalculation, the 22d has been usually celebrated as the 
anniversary of the landing, but it is clear that the day was December the 11th, 
old style ; and as in the seventeenth century there was a difference of ten days 
between the old and new mode of reckoning, the 21st is the correct date 
9,ccording to the new style. 



A CITIZEN, 1620. 



THE PILGRIMS. 



17 



the soil, from fewness of number, and from the payment of an 
exorbitant rate of interest (45 per cent) to the merchants who 
had provided the means for fitting out the expedition. Not- 
withstanding all these discouragements the band persevered. 
Unlike the colonists in Virginia, these Pilgrims had come to 
make their home in the new world, and we hear of no disputes 
like those in the southern colony, while their privations were 
borne with an heroic spirit. Among the company was 
Captain Myles Standish, not a member of their religious com- 
munion, and his presence illustrates the freedom which 
prevailed. He proved himself 
of the greatest assistance to 
the suffering little band, par- 
ticularly during the first try- 
ing winter, when half the little 
company died from disease 
and exposure. John Carver, 
the governor, was one of those 
who thus perished. William 
Bradford was chosen to suc- 
ceed him, and so accepta- 
ble was his administration that 
he was re-elected annually for 
thirty years except when by 
" importunity he got off." In 
1627 the colonists bought out 
the merchants' interest, and the colony became commercially, 
as it was politically, free. From this time the colony con- 
tinued to advance, though but slowly. 




MYLES STANDISH'S KETTLE AND PLATTER. 



15. Massachusetts Bay Colony. (1629.) — In 1629 a charter 
was given to "the Governor and Company of the Massa- 
chusetts Bay in New England," granting them land from 



18 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



three miles south of the Charles River to three miles north 
of the Merrimac River and extending east and west from 
ocean to ocean. Like the other colonies, Massachusetts had 
many disputes in regard to territory and boundaries. Some 




JOHN ENDICOTT 



of tliese differences were of long standing; that Avith New 
York was not finally adjusted until 1855. 

John Endicott was the leader of the Massachusetts emi- 
grants, and in the year 1628 had come over to Naumkeag 
(Salem) with about one hundred emigrants. John Endicott 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



19 



was a typical Puritan, "a fit instrument to begin this 
wilderness-work, of courage bold, undaunted, yet sociable and 
of a cheerful spirit, loving and austere, applying himself to 
either as occasion served." Salem, as Naumkeag was now 
called, in anticipation of the peace which the colonists hoped 
to obtain, became the chief of the Massachusetts Bay settle- 
ments, and remained so for some time. 



In the same year, 1(329, the 



16. Peculiarities of the Massachusetts Colony. (1629-1640.) 

— In 1629 five vessels, among which was the Mayflower^ 
brought a large reinforcement, 
step Avas taken of carrjdng the 
charter itself to the colony, 
which was equivalent to trans- 
ferring the government to the 
colonists themselves. Hereto- 
fore, at least the nominal power 
over all the colonists remained 
in the mother country. That 
the Plymouth colony was gov- 
erned in accordance with the 
Mayfloive7' agreement is really 
an exception, but it was so 
small a colony as to attract 
little attention. 1 

The number of colonists rapidly increased, and b}^ 1640 
twenty thousand had sought homes in the new colony of Massa- 
chusetts Bay. There were important differences between this 
colony and others. (1) It was undertaken by men of position 
and means, on their own account, and in their own person. 

1 The legal right of the Massachusetts Bay Company to transfer the charter 
has often been questioned. It is evident that the grantors had not thought 
of such transferrence. 




SHIP OF 1630. 



20 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

(2) nominally a commercial enterprise it was really an attempt 
to found a new political state. (3) Those who took part were 
not at first separatists from the Church of England, like the 
Pilgrims, but were Puritans who desired a reformation Avithin 
the church. (4) The Puritans of Massachusetts Bay perse- 
cuted, which the Pilgrims did not do, at 
least during the earliest years of the 
colony. 

17. Growth of Political Freedom in 
Massachusetts. (1629-1670.)— John Win- 
throp was chosen governor before the 
charter was taken to the colony, and he 
held the office for four years and was 
several times re-elected. The colonists 
had almost entire control of their own 
affairs. For some time the governor, 
his deputy, and his council (called the 
" Assistants ") met with the, freemen to 
make the laws, and decide upon all pub- 

A COUNTRYWOMAN, 1620. t ,, a .1 ^ c r 

lie matters. As the number oi freemen 
increased such an arrangement became very inconvenient, 
and to meet this difficulty nearly all the power was given 
to the governor and his council. It was not long, however, 
before the people of one of the townships rebelled against 
the amount of a tax levied upon them, and the result of 
their protest was that a House of Representatives was es- 
tablished to meet with the governor and council. To this 
body each township sent two representatives. The colonists 
thus early objected to "taxation without representation." 

Gradually it came about that the representatives sat apart 
from the governor and the council, and a legislature with 
two houses grew up. 




ROGER WILLIAMS. 



21 



The colony was carried on in many respects more after 
the Hebrew laws of the Old Testament than after English 
laws. Church and State were closely united ; indeed they 
were, in the early colonial days, considered as one. The 
freemen met in the church building or " meeting-house " 
whenever they had occasion to come together. The min- 
isters were magistrates, and only church members were 
allowed to have a voice in the government, and for forty 
years perhaps three-fourths of the men had no vote. 



18. Puritans ; Roger Williams. (1635.) — It has often been 
said that the Puritans came to establish religious liberty ; 
but such was not the case. They had no idea of founding a 
colony where different forms of worship could 
exist side by side ; they believed in uniform- 
ity. Like most men of the age in which they 
lived they did not believe in religious tolera- 
tion, and in this they differed from the Pil- 
grims. Very soon after the beginning of 
the settlement the question of toleration had 
to be determined. In 1631 a young man 
about twenty-four years of age, a minister, 
whose name was Roger Williams, arrived in 
one of the vessels. At once he caused much 
trouble, for he did not hesitate to express his 
views, which were far too liberal for the 




A PURITAN GENTLE- 
MAN, 1646. 



authorities. He believed that the civil power 
should have no control over a man's conscience, and that 
no one should be forced to support public worship. For 
these and other liberal opinions he was, in 1635, sentenced to 
be banished. Intending to settle on the shores of Narragan- 
sett Bay, he was making preparation to go thither with 
some friends, when he heard of a plot to seize him and 



22 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



^ 



send him to England. At once he fled into the wilderness, 
though it was the depth of winter, to Massasoit, an Indian 
chief, at Sowams (Warren, Rhode Island), near which place 
he remained for a number of weeks, "not knoAving what 
bread or bed did mean." 

19. Founding of Providence and Rhode Island. (1636-1644.) 

— In June, 1636, he chose a place which he called Providence, 
at the head of Narragansett Bay, for a new settlement. A 
large tract of land was given him by the Indians, or bought 
from them, which in course of time he sold or gave away to 
settlers. He made his refuge "a shelter for persons dis- 
tressed for conscience," and it was not long before many such 
came to him, among them Anne Hutchinson, who, having 
been banished from Massachusetts, came to Rhode Island in 
1638. She was a yerj able woman and upheld the right of 
women to preach and to take part in the church government : 
she also taught other opinions much in opposition to Puritan 
doctrines. After a trial in which she defended herself ably, 
she was banished like Roger Williams. It must be said that 
however excellent were the views of Roger Williams in regard 
to religious toleration, on political matters they were such as 
to strike at the very root of government as then understood, 
and it was not unnatural that he should be looked upon as a 
dangerous person. He was far in advance of his contem- 
poraries in respect to political and religious matters. In 
1638 Portsmouth, and in 1639 Newport, both on the island of 
Rhode Island, were settled by refugees from Massachusetts. 
At first these colonies were independent and governed them- 
selves in a democratic way; but Roger Williams went to 
England and succeeded in getting a patent from Parliament 
in 1644, under whicli all the various colonies in what is now 
the state of Rhode Island were united under the name of 



BOSTON; CONNECTICUT. 23 

" The Incorporation of Providence Plantations in the Narra- 
gansett Bay in New-England." On the restoration of Charles 
II. to the English throne, it was found necessary to procure 
a new charter, Avhich was granted by the king in 1663.1 This 
charter was so liberal that it was continued in force until 
1843 2 (sect. 251). 

In this colony alone was perfect religious liberty allowed, 
and " Papists, Protestants, Jews, or Turks " were to be pro- 
tected in their religion. This great liberty attracted many 
persons who wished for license, and there was much trouble 
in the colony from such. 

20. Settlement of Boston ; and Connecticut. (1630-1638.) — 

Salem was not attractive to all, and as the number of colo- 
nists was large, some moved to Watertown, some to Newtown 
(Cambridge), and some to other jjlaces: Boston, at first Tri- 
mountain from its three hills, was founded in 1630. In 1635 
and 1636 parties left the old settlements and going out into 
the wilderness founded Wethersfield, Hartford, and Windsor, 
on the Connecticut River. These villages were far from 
others, and in 1637 they took the rule into their own hands, 
and in 1638 (old style) formed a written constitution for 
themselves. This was the first written constitution in 
America, and one of the first in history. No higher power 
than the people themselves was recognized, and all men were 
freemen who, admitted as such by the freemen of the town, 
should take the oath of allegiance. No one except the 
governor was required to be a church member. This agree- 
ment is known as " The Fundamental Orders of Connecti- 

1 In this charter the title Rhode Island and Providence Plantations is 
used. Rhode Island alone of the states retains two capitals, one being New- 
port, the other Providence, thus perpetuating the local pride of colonial days. 

■^ The new constitution was ratified by popular vote in 1842, and went 
into operation May 1, 184o. 



'24 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

cut." A charter was obtained from Charles II. in 1662, and 
was so liberal that it continued in force till 1818. Quinnipi- 
ack, afterwards New Haven, was founded in 1638, by Lon- 
doners, wiio distrusted Massachusetts. Other colonies were 
elsewhere founded from time to time, until in 1664 all these 
settlements were united under the name of Connecticut. 

21. Maine ; New Hampshire. (1627-1677.) — Maine was 
part of the territory of tlie Plymouth Company, and there had 
been several attempts to colonize it, but all had resulted in 
failure except the Pemaquid colony at the mouth of the Ken- 
nebec River in 1627. In 1635 the Plymouth Company re- 
signed its charter to the British crown, but previously the 
members had divided the unsettled country between them- 
selves. Sir Ferdinando Gorges obtained most of what is now 
Maine ; Captain John Mason received as his part the land west 
of the Piscataqua River, which tract, he called, after his own 
county in England, New Hampshire. Neither Gorges nor 
Mason had much to do with these lands, and the settlers were 
thus allowed great liberty. New Hampshire, though several 
times attached to Massachusetts, finally, in 1741, became in- 
dependent of it. The settlers in Maine during 1652 and 
1658 submitted themselves to Massachusetts, and in 1677 
Massachusetts bought all Gorges' rights in the province. 
Vermont was claimed both by New York and New Hampshire, 
and the question Avas not settled until Vermont was admitted 
to the Union in 1791. 

22. Lord Baltimore ; Maryland. (1632.) — The Plymouth 
Company surrendered its charter in 1635. The London Com- 
pany had already given up its charter in 1624, so all the 
territory, according to the belief of that day, was in the 
hands of the king to do with it as he wished. Accordingly in 



MARYLAND. 



25 



1632 Charles I. granted to Sir George Calvert, Lord Balti- 
more, lands east of the Potomac River, including both sides 
of the Chesapeake Bay. This tract, to which the name 
Maryland was given, in memory of the English queen, Hen- 
rietta Maria, was within the bounds of the original London 
Company, and Virginia had already taken some steps to col- 
onize parts of it. Before the written agreement was per- 
fected Lord Baltimore died, but the patent was given to his 
son Cecilius Calvert. Both were Roman Catholics.^ 




CECILIUS CALVERT. 



The grant was a liberal one, nothing but allegiance to the 
crown, the yearly tribute of two Lidian arrows, and one 
fifth part of all the gold and silver mined, being required. 
Baltimore was given the powers of a Palatinate, which 

1 The boundaries of the grant were remarkably precise for that day, 
being, the Potomac from its source to its mouth, thence across the Chesa- 
peake Bay to Watkins Point, thence to the ocean, which with the Delaware 
Bay was the eastern boundary. The northern boundary was the fortieth 
parallel of north latitude to the meridian of the south fountain of the 
Potomac. It will be seen that these boundaries included the state of Dela- 
ware and a considerable part of Pennsylvania. 



26 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

were almost regal.^ His title was Proprietaiy, and he was 
really a monarch, though subordinate to the king. At the 
same time the freemen were to take part in the making of 
the laws : they were to have freedom of trade, and to possess 
the rights of native-born Englishmen. Religious toleration 
was proclaimed by Lord Baltimore. In this respect Mary- 
land and Rhode Island stand alone in the early annals of the 
country, though the latter was the more liberal, as Maryland 
required a belief in Jesus Christ, while Rhode Island made 
no stipulation. The character of the religious toleration 
granted in Maryland has been the subject of much contro- 
versy. Little is said about toleration in the charter, and 
that very vaguely ; but there was probably a private under- 
standing between the king and Baltimore that Roman 
Catholics and Protestants should be treated alike. Unless 
this had been so there is no probability that he could have 
obtained the charter, or that any great number of emigrants 
would have gone out. Contrary to a very common impres- 
sion, it seems that Roman Catholics were always in a 
minority in the colony, even from the very first shipload. 
In 1676 the proprietary himself said that more than three 
fourths of the inhabitants were Protestants. 

23. Maryland continued; Toleration Act; Troubles. (1633- 
1692.) — In 1633 Leonard Calvert, a younger brother of the 
proprietary, sailed with about two hundred emigrants, and 
buying from the Indians a small village near the mouth of 
the Potomac, founded, March, 1634, the town of St. Mary's. 
Before issuing the patent to Baltimore, the king had given a 
license for trading, and also the ownership of the land on the 
Chesapeake Bay, to a settler, William Clayborne, who refused 

1 The charter was modelled on the Palatinate system as then existing in 
the county of Durham, England, which liad been established by William 
the Conqueror. 



C kj 



r ''J- 



f 











EUROPEAN COLOMES— ABOUT, 1650, 



MARYLAND. 27 

to acknowledge the proprietary and gave the colonists much 
annoyance. It was an instance of conflicting claims which 
were very common in the early history of America. 

The Maryland Assembly passed in 1649 the " Toleration 
Act," which was confirmed in the following year by the 
proprietary. It is praiseworthy as being among the first 
legislative acts in favor of anything like toleration. It was 
restricted toleration, however, not religious freedom, for 
severe penalties were prescribed against all persons guilty 
of blasphemy, or denying the divinity of Christ, or using re- 
proachful words against the Virgin Mary or the Apostles ; but 
it does not appear that these punishments were ever inflicted. 
This act simply changed what had been a custom into a law. 

The colony had little trouble from the Indians except 
when they were stirred up by the white men, and Maryland 
prospered greatly and increased rapidly in population. The 
liberal policy of the proprietary attracted settlers, and he 
himself invited men from all quarters, even Puritans from 
England. The new comers had not the spirit of toleration, 
and as soon as they and their sympathizers were in the 
majority, they made Maryland an Episcopal colony, disfran- 
chised the Roman Catholics, and the Friends or Quakers, 
and taxed everyone to support the Church of England, which 
was made the established church in 1692. By the English 
revolution of 1688 Lord Baltimore lost his province, because 
he had sided with the fallen Stuarts, and Maryland became a 
royal colony, the king aj^pointing the governors ; but in 
1715 the nominal proprietary having become Protestant, the 
colony was restored to the Baltimore family, with Avhom it 
remained until the Revolution. 

24. Virginia becomes a Royal Colony. (1624.) — The adop- 
tion of a House of Burgesses in Virginia (sect. 10) was 



28 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

approved by the company in England, and in 1621 a written 
constitution was sent out confirming the privileges. In 1624 
the charter of the company was annulled by the crown, and 
Virginia became a royal province. The king now appointed 
the governor and Council, but the Assembly still made the 
laws subject to the veto of the governor. Tobacco was the 
staple crop of the province, and large quantities of it were 
raised and exported. The number of navigable streams 
added greatly to the ease of export, for the vessels could 
come up to the plantations and load directly for England. 
Tobacco Avas also the principal article of trade, so much so 
indeed that it was used in place of money both in keeping 
accounts and in purchasing. 

Virginia was always a Church of England, or Episcopal, 
colony ; this was the established church, and all persons were 
taxed for its support. It was also a very loyal colony, and 
sided Avith the king in the civil war, but made no resistance 
when Parliament was in control. 

25. Virg^inia ; Bacon's Rebellion. (1676.) — When Charles II. 
came to the throne, he rewarded the Virginians by allowing 
the governors to rule harshly. The English Navigation laws 
(sect. 55^ operated greatly to the disadvantage of the colo- 
nists. Troubles arose with the Indians; the colonists blamed 
the government for not protecting them, and in 1676 a num- 
ber under the lead of Nathaniel Bacon rebelled, and raised 
forces to go against the Indians. Bacon was a member of 
the celebrated English family of that name, and w^as a rich, 
brave, patriotic, and popular man. Berkeley, the governor, 
at first yielded so far as to give Bacon a commission against 
the Indians, then when he had gone, proclaimed him and his 
associates rebels. On Bacon's return, there was civil war 
between tlie parties, in the course of which Berkeley was 



VIRGINIA. 29 

driven out of Jamestown, the capital, and the place burnt. 
Jamestown was not rebuilt ; Williamsburg became the capital. 
Worn out by the fatigues of his campaigns. Bacon died after 
a short illness, and the rebellion was at an end. The gov- 
ernor hanged twenty-three of the principal rebels. On hear- 
ing this, Charles II. is said to have remarked, " The old fool has 
taken away more lives in that naked country than I did for 
the murder of my father." Though the rebellion had been a 
failure, it showed the character of the people and what might 
be expected if harsh measures were persisted in. 

26. Virginia ; Growth and Prosperity of the Colony. (1676- 
1715.) — Soon after Bacon's rebellion, peace was made with 
the Indians, and there was no more trouble with them. Vir- 
ginia remained a royal colony until the Revolution. The 
manner of life was very different in Virginia from that in the 
more northern and eastern colonies. The land was fertile and 
was divided into large plantations; and while there was not 
as much wealth altogether as in New England, there v/ere 
more rich men, and these had naturally got most of the 
power into their own hands. There were fewer towns, as 
there was little need of protection from the Indians ; and, as 
the planters imported their own goods from England in re- 
turn for their tobacco, there was no attempt at manufactui-- 
ing. The planter also supplied his poorer neighbor, who was 
thus almost continually in his debt and so in his power. 
Notwithstanding harsh legislation, Virginia prospered greatly 
and the population increased. In 1670 Berkeley estimated 
the population at 40,000, including 2000 negro slaves and 
6000 indentured white servants. Indentured servants were 
of at least four classes : (1) Those who, for the sake of emi- 
grating to the new country, had bound themselves for a cer- 
tain number of years to those who paid their passage money. 



80 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

(2) Those who when boys and girls had been bound to ser- 
vice until they became of age. (3) Persons of all ages who 
had been kidnapped and brought over and sold to the 
planters. (4) Convicts who had been sent to the colonies to 
rid England of their presence ; more convicts were sent to 
Virginia than to any other colony, and not a few of these, re- 
moved from evil association, became excellent citizens. In 
1715 the total population was thought to be about 95,000. 

27. The Carolinas. (1663-1665.) — In 1663, and again in 
1665, Charles II. granted the territory now occupied by the 
Carolinas and Georgia to eight proprietors, most of whom had 
aided him in regaining the crown of England. As usual, 
little regard was paid to the boundaries, or to previous claims, 
for the gift included settlements which had been made by the 
Virginians, and wliich by right belonged to that province. 
When the French had attempted to plant a colony at Port 
Royal (sect. 8), they had called a fort Carolina in honor of 
Charles IX. of France; the proprietors used this name, but 
in honor of Charles of England. This grant extended to the 
Pacific Ocean and south into Florida, thus conflicting both 
with French and Spanish claims. 

28. The Carolinas ; John Locke ; John Archdale. (1669-1696.) 

— It was resolved to provide a model government for the 
Carolinas, and an elaborate scheme for the new enterprise 
was drawn up. The philosopher John Locke was consulted, 
but his share in the document is not known ; his published 
views on government make it unlikely that he was respon- 
sible for many of the political features. The scheme pro- 
vided for a nobility having different ranks, — proprietors, 
landgraves, caciques, and lords of manors. While the nobility 
were to own a certain amount of land in proportion to their 



THE CAROLINAS. 31 

rank, the people were not to own any, but were to be in a 
position like the old Russian serf, attached to the soil, and 
without voice in the government. The plan was complex and 
impracticable ; the colonists could not have understood it, 
and could not have carried it out if they had. The only 
immediate effect was almost to destroy what little govern- 
ment there was in the colony, particularly in the northern 
part, with the result of making it the most turbulent, 
lawless, and factious of all the American settlements. An 
attempt was made to adapt the government to the " model," 
but it was finally given up in 1693 without ever having gone 
into practical operation. In 1695 the proprietors sent out 
John Archdale, a Friend, as governor. Under his wise 
administration order was restored. He lowered the quit-rents, 
paid the proprietors, pursued a peaceful policy toward the 
Indians and the Spaniards, appointed a council satisfactory 
to the colonists, and allowed them to choose their represen- 
tatives to the Assembly. The result was "prosperity, and, 
for a time, peace to the colony." In 1696 the representatives 
in South Carolina declared that Archdale, by " his wisdom, 
patience, and labor, had laid a firm foundation for a most 
glorious superstruction." Such praise as this is perhaps 
unique in American colonial history. After a short time 
Archdale went back to England, and before long the old 
state of disorder returned. 

29. Division of the Carolinas ; North Carolina. (1729.) — It 
was found in a few years that Carolina was too large to be 
governed as one colony, and so there were two Assemblies 
chosen, and after having sometimes two governors and some- 
times one, it was finally (1729) divided into two parts which 
received the names by which they are now known. The first 
settlers of the colony of North Carolina were from Virginia : 



32 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

others came from New England, and later, from the northern 
colonies, from Scotland, from the north of Ireland, and from 
Switzerland. " The population was much more scattered than 
elsewhere, schools were few, and the advance of the North 
Carolinians was on lines of independence and sturdy courage 
rather than of refinement and elegance." 

30. South Carolina; the Carolinas become Royal Colonies. 
(1629-1729.) — In 1670 the proprietors sent out a colony to 
settle within the bounds of South Carolina. At first a position 
some distance from the sea was chosen, but after ten years' 
trial the whole settlement was moved to the junction of the 
Ashley and Cooper rivers, where the city of Charleston now 
is. These rivers were named after one of the proprietors, the 
Earl of Shaftesbury, whose name was Anthony Ashley Cooper. 
The number of settlers was increased by emigrants from 
North Carolina, by Dutch from New York, and by a large 
number of French Protestants or Huguenots from France, 
who had left their homes on account of the persecution fol- 
lowinof the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Huo-ue- 
nots formed a most valuable part of tlie population, though 
they were not admitted for some time to all the rights of the 
other colonists. The chief products of South Carolina were 
rice and indigo : the former was introduced from the East 
Indies in 1696, and the latter in 1741. These two crops were 
the chief staple products until the invention of the cotton gin 
gave cotton the first place. In North Carolina, tar, pitch, 
turpentine, and lumber were the staple products. The pro- 
prietors had gained little profit from their grant, but in 
1719 there was a rebellion against them in South Carolina, 
and the colonists, on appealing to the king, were given a 
royal governor. In 1729 the proprietors sold all their rights 
to the crown, and the Carolinas became absolutely royal 



GEORGIA ; OGLETHORPE. 



33 



colonies, and were permanently divided into North and South 
Carolina. 



31. Settlement of Georgia ; Oglethorpe. (1733.) — Though 
the latest of the colonies, it may be well to notice the settle- 
ment of Georgia in this connection. General James Ogle- 
thorpe was an Englishman whose heart had been touched by 
the sight of the suffering of 
the poor in England, partic- 
ularly of those who had 
been imprisoned for debt, 
and he resolved to try to 
better their condition by 
offering them a refuge in 
the new world, where they 
could make a new start in 
life. Accordingly he obtain- 
ed a grant of the land lying 
between the Savannah and 
the Altamaha rivers and ex- 
tending westward to the 
South Seas, to found such a 
colony. The charter (1732) 
was to last for twenty-one 
years. The powers invested 
in a board of trustees were 
almost absolute, the settlers 
themselves having little voice ; there was to be religious free- 
dom to all but Roman Catholics : slavery was forbidden, and 
also the sale of rum. In the fall of 1732, the same year in 
which the charter was granted, Oglethorpe himself sailed 
with an expedition, and made a settlement (1733) on the 
site of the city of Savannah. Notwithstanding the efforts 




JAMES OGLETHORPE. 



34 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

of the founder, and of John and Charles Wesley and George 
Whitefield, the great preachers, it was long before Georgia, as 
the colony was named, proved a success. The very restric- 
tions which the trustees, who had no pecuniary interest in the 
undertaking, had provided for the good of the colonists, were 
not only distasteful to them as in the case of slavery, but in 
some cases, as in the restrictions upon the sale of land, were 
really injurious to the prosperity of the colony. At the expi- 
ration of twenty years the trustees resigned their charter to 
the crown, and Georgia, like the Carolinas, became a ro^^al 
colony with its governor appointed by the crown.^ 

32. The Dutch and New Netherland ; Disputes with English 
Colonies. (1626-1664..) — The Dutch West India Company 
governed New Netherland (sect. 11) from 1626 to 1664, but 
the settlements were regarded by the Dutch in the light of 
trading posts rather than colonies, and they do not seem to 
have realized in the slightest degree the possibilities that were 
before them in the possession of the Hudson River and New 
York Bay. The settlements were few and grew slowly. 
Meanwhile the English colonies to the north and south, 
increasing rapidly in wealth and population, were divided by 
the Dutch possessions as by a wedge. This was both un- 
pleasant and dangerous. There were many disputes between 
the settlers of Connecticut and the Dutch regarding terri- 
tory, not only on the mainland, but also on Long Island, on 
which men from Connecticut had settled, but Avhich the 
Dutch claimed. The English always held that the whole 
coast from Maine to Florida belonged to them in virtue of 
the Cabots' discovery (sect. 5), and so Charles II. in 1664 
granted the territory held by the Dutch, and also Pemaquid 

1 Oglethorpe lived to see the colonies gain their independence. He died 
m London in 1785. 




f'^^nr 




\ \ 



35 



36 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



(nearly what is now the state of Maine), Nantucket, Martha's 
Vineyard, and all Long Island, to the Duke of York, his 
brother, afterwards James II., as an absolute dominion, the 
only proviso being that no laws should be made conflicting 
with those of England. The importance of this grant lay in 
the fact that the Duke of York was the heir to the throne 
and at the death of Charles TI. all these would become crowai 
property. 



33. Capture of New Amsterdam by English ; New York. 
(1664.) — The duke sent out the same year a strong force, 
which, appearing before New Amsterdam, found that town 
wholly unprepared for defence, and so the governor, Peter 
Stuy vesant, was forced to submit. Richard Nicolls, who com- 
manded the fleet, immediately proclaimed the Duke of York 

as ruler, and ordered that the 
city should henceforth be called 
New York. Fortunately most 
of the Dutch, feeling that they 
had been neglected by their old 
rulers, or perhaps not caring 
very much about the matter, 
quietly accepted the situation, 
and so the transfer of authority 
was accomplished without a drop 
of blood being shed. Even Stuy- 
vesant gave in his allegiance. 
The conquest of the remaining 
posts soon followed, and the 
whole province was lost to the Dutch. Nicolls, whom the 
duke had appointed governor, was a skilful, shrewd man, 
and managed affairs well. Though the government was ab- 
solute, — a despotism, — it was mild; the Dutch laws and 




PETER STUYVESANT. 



NEW YORK: LEISLER. 



37 



customs were not rudely overturned, and there was little at 
first to complain of. 



34. Recapture of New York by Dutch ; Restored to English. 
Leisler. (1673-1691.) — The Dutch at home did not regard 
the capture of New Netherland with equanimity, but it was 
not until 1673 that they saw an opportunity for revenge. In 
that year a powerful fleet appeared off New York and found 
the city as unprepared as NicoUs had found it nine years 
before, and again it was conquered without a blow, and the 
province was again under Dutch rule. Peace was made in 
1674, and William of Orange, the stadtholder of Holland, 
seeing the difficulty of retaining the settlement, readily con- 
sented to return it to England. It then remained under the 
English rule until the Revolution. The later English gov- 
ernors were harsh, and the colonists had much less freedom 
than their neighbors, not having an Assembly until 1683, 
and even this privilege was taken away for a short time, 
though afterwards restored. 
There were continual 
troubles with Connecticut 
about boundaries, with East 
Jersey about duties on prod- 
uce, and also with the 
Indians. In 1689 the people 
were so enraged with the 
governor that they rose 
against him under the lead- 
ership of a captain of the 
guards, Jacob Leisler, whom they made governor in his 
place. William and Mary, who had succeeded to the English 
throne, sent out a new governor, Sloughter, who arrested 
I^eisler on the charge of high treason ; on his conviction, 




JACOB LEISLER'S HOUSE. 



88 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Sloughter was persuaded to sign his death warrant, and he 
was executed. Leisler's true character has been the subject 
of much dispute, some regarding him as a true patriot, 
others as an adventurer, whose chief object was to get power 
for himself, and whose rule was as bad as that of the English 
governors, if not worse. 

35. The Patroons in New York. (1629.) — The Dutch had 
encouraged emigration by making large grants of land to 
patroons, a kind of nobility. These let out their lands at low 
rents to settlers, who tlierefore were not owners as in the 
other colonies. The English did not alter this arrangement, 
and it was not until about 1844 that the last remnant of this 
system disappeared (sect. 251). 

In the Dutch charter providing for the patroons (1629), it 
was stated that " the Patroons and colonists were to support 
a minister and schoolmaster, that thus the service of God and 
zeal for religion may not grow cold and neglected among 
them." This provision is among the very earliest in America 
which recognize the importance of establishing the foundation 
of religion and education. ^ 

Notwithstanding its unrivalled position. New York grew 
slowly. When Stuyvesant surrendered to the English in 
1664, the population of that city was about 1500 only, and 
the northern limit was a wall running from river to river, 
where Wall Street now is. 

36. New Jersey Charter. (1664.) — The Swedes, who had 
begun a settlement on the Delaware River (sect. 11) in 1665, 
were conquered by the Dutch, and the whole of what is now 
New Jersey and also the west bank of the Delaware River 

1 The influence of the Dutch upon American institutions has not been 
sufficiently recognized. 



THE JERSEYS. 39 

and Bay came under Dutch rule. When Charles II., in 
1664, made his grant to the Duke of York, all the Dutch 
and Swedish settlements were included. The same year 
the duke granted to Lord John Berkeley and Sir George 
Carteret, as proprietors, what is now New Jersey. In the 
patent the name was fixed as New Csesaria or New Jersey. 
This name was given in honor of Sir George Carteret, Avho 
held the island of Jersey in the English Channel during the 
civil war in England. The proprietors provided a system of 
government which was very liberal, and also sent out a rela- 
tive of Carteret, Philip Carteret, as governor. The landing 
Avas made at a settlement which the governor named Eliza- 
beth town, after the wife of Sir George Carteret. There Avas 
much trouble experienced from former settlers, and politically 
the proprietors had no easy time. The Indians were, however, 
paid for their lands when taken, and being fairly treated in 
other respects, the colony was not harassed by Indians. 

37. Growth of New Jersey ; Division of the Colony. (1674.) 

— The liberal concessions of the proprietors attracted many 
settlers, and Newark was founded by Puritans from Con- 
necticut in 1666 ; many also came from Long Island. In 
1674 Berkeley sold half of his province, which Avas the west- 
ern, to Edward Byllinge and John FeuAvick, both members 
of the Society of Friends, or Quakers. The province Avas 
thus di\'ided into tAvo parts knoAvn as West and East Jersey. 
The boundary line was the subject of much dispute and Avas 
changed more than once. John FeuAvick went out Avith an 
expedition in 1675 and landed at a place Avhich he called 
Salem. In 1677 William Penn and others of the same relig- 
ious body bought Byllinge's share, and founded Burlington 
during the same year. 



40 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

38. Penn and Others buy East Jersey. (1681.) — In 1681 
William Penn and eleven others, probably all Friends, bought 
East Jersey, which, after Sir George Carteret's death, was 
offered at auction to the highest bidder. These twelve 
owners soon sold out one-half of their interest to twelve 
others, thus increasing the owners to twenty-four. There 
was a strange mixture of religious and political beliefs repre- 
sented, — "Papists, Dissenters, and Quakers," Royalists, and 
Puritans. Notwithstanding this great diversity of opinion 
there seems to have been no discord among the owners, and 
one of their number, Robert Barclay, the well-known author 
of the "Apology" or defence of Quaker doctrines, was 
chosen governor. He did not, however, come to America, 
but sent a deputy whose administration was very satisfactory. 

39. West Jersey; Presbyterian Influence; Becomes a Royal Col- 
ony. (1685-1702.) — Meanwhile a separate government was 
maintained in West Jersey, Edward Byllinge being the first 
governor, but, like Barclay, ruling by a deputy. Builington 
was the capital of West Jersey. The capital of East Jersey 
was first Elizabethtown and afterwards Perth Amboy. 

The Presbyterians were at this time suffering much from 
persecution in Scotland, and that their attention was called 
to East Jersey as a place of refuge, Avas probably because the 
Earl of Perth, and others of the proprietors, were Scotch- 
men. In 1685 a large number of them emigrated to the new 
province and so laid the foundation of the Presbyterian 
influence in New Jersey. The influence of the Puritans in 
East Jersey is shown by the severity of the laws for the 
punishment of crimes, as there were thirteen classes of 
offences punishable by death in that province, while in West 
Jersey capital punishment was not allowed. 

Andros, who was appointed by James II. governor of all 




WILLIAM PENN. 



WILLIAM PENN; PENNSYLVANIA. 41 

the English settlements north of " forty degrees of northern 
latitude " except Pennsylvania and Delaware, though claim- 
ing authority over the Jerseys, was content with simpty 
having his authority acknowledged. In 1702 the proprietors 
resigned all rights to the crown, and the provinces were 
united. The united province had the same governors as New 
York, but a separate legislature, until 1738, when it was 
given a governor of its own. 

40. William Penn ; Pennsylvania; Dispute with Lord Baltimore. 
•(1681.) — William Penn, one of the owners of the Jerseys, 
born in 1644, was the son of Admiral Sir William Penn of 
the English navy, a successful officer. He had joined the 
Quakers much to the grief of the admiral his father, who for 
some time refused to be reconciled. When the admiral died, 
there was due him a large sum of money which he had loaned 
to the crown. In 1680 Penn proposed to Charles II. that in 
settlement of this debt of X 16,000 a tract of land should be 
given him in America. The king was only too glad to pay 
the debt thus easily, and in 1681 a charter was given to Penn 
conveying to him as proprietor the land bounded by the 
fortieth and forty-third degrees of north latitude, and the 
lands Avest of the Delaware River through five degrees of 
longitude, except a small portion which belonged to the 
colonies on the Delaware. The lines of the boundaries were 
supposed to be accurately named, but unfortunately the 
position of the fortieth degree of latitude was wrongly calcu- 
lated, and there arose in consequence a long dispute between 
Lord Baltimore and Penn, and between their successors, as to 
the boundary, which was not settled until 1763, when two 
surveyors, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, were sent out 
from England, and established the present line which sepa- 
rates Maryland from Delaware and Pennsylvania. Until the 
abolition of slavery this line was the dividing line between 



12 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the free and the slave states, and was regarded as separating 
the North and the South.^ 

41. Pennsylvania; the "Holy Experiment." (1681.) — The 
name of Pennsylvania was given in honor of Admiral Penn 
by Charles II., William Penn himself preferring that of New 
Wales. Penn also acquired from the Duke of York the 
possessions which he had obtained on the Delaware Bay and 
River by his grant of 1664. This colony was known after- 
wards as the "three lower counties on the Delaware." 
Penn's chief purpose was to establish a colony where justice 
should rule, and where there might be liberty of conscience, 
and, so far as practicable, political freedom and equality. 

The charter which Penn obtained was a liberal one. He 
had the right to govern, appoint officers, and with the consent 
of the people make necessary laws, which were to be sub- 
mitted within five years to the crown for approval. Penn 
soon sent out his relative, William Markham, to take charge 
and make preparations for his own coming. A pamphlet 
was published giving a brief account of the country, of 
the terms of the charter, and the conditions upon which 
land would be disposed of to the settlers. Penn was a 
well-known man, and many persons, not only in England 
and Wales, but in Holland and Germany, prepared to 



come 



Penn's views of government were broad, and in speaking 

1 The disputes of Penn and Baltimore have been the basis of elaborate 
attacks upon the former. A careful review seems to show that Penn was in 
the right if the spirit of the grant be taken, while according to the letter of the 
grant Baltimore had grounds for protesting. At the same time Baltimore 
seems to have neglected to take the steps required in order to have an 
indisputable claim to the lands in question. The northern and western 
boundaries were afterwards fixed at their present places. 

2 A translation of the pamphlet had been printed in Amsterdam. 



PENN'S FRAME OF GOVERNMENT. 43 

of his plans he said, " I propose to leave myself and successors 
no power of doing mischief, — that the will of one man may 
not hinder the good of an whole country." " Because I have 
been exercised at times about the nature and end of govern- 
ment among men, it is reasonable to expect that I should 
endeavor to establish a just and righteous one in this 
province . . . for the nations want a precedent." " There 
may be room there, though not here, for such an holy 
experiment." With these principles before him, he set about 
drawing up a plan of government. 

42. Penn's Frame of Government. (1682.) — His experience 
with the affairs of the East and West Jerseys had made 
him acquainted with many of the difficulties in a practical 
administration, and though he consulted Henry Sidney, Sir 
William Jones and others, there is no reason to doubt that 
the groundwork of the plan was his own. In the introduction 
to this "Frame of Government" are the following words: 
" I know what is said by the several admirers of monarchy, 
aristocracy, and democracy, which are the rule of one, of a few, 
and of many. ... But any government is free to the people 
under it (whatever be the frame) where the laws rule and 
the people are a party to those laws; and more than this 
is tyranny, oligarchy, or confusion. . . . Liberty without 
obedience is confusion, and obedience without liberty is 
slavery." 

While the governor was appointed by the proprietor, the 
Assembly was elected by the people, all men who believed 
in Jesus Christ and had paid taxes or were freeholders 
being allowed to vote. Liberty of conscience was allowed to 
all, but " looseness, irreligion, and atheism " were to be dis- 
couraged, and reformation rather than retaliation was the 
principle that was followed in dealing with criminals. 



44 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

43. Penn sails for America; Treaty. (1682.) — In 1682 
Penn sailed with about one hundred emigrants for his prov- 
ince, and landed October 29 (old style) at Uplandt, now 
Chester. He immediately set to work to arrange affairs. He 
had sent by his deputy, the previous year, a letter to the 
Indians, assuring them of his good will and purpose of treat- 
ing them justly. With this object in view he met the prin- 
cipal Indian chiefs at Shackamaxon, now in Philadelphia, and 
there held a very friendly conference, and made a treaty of 
peace and good will with them, — a treaty "not sworn to and 
never broken." He allowed no land to be occupied until the 
title had been acquired justly from the Indians, and he pro- 
vided that all differences should be settled by tribunals in 
which both races should be represented. The result of this 
just policy was that the colonists gained the good will of the 
natives, and so long as the Friends were in control of the 
colony, peace and security reigned in the province.^ 

44. Founding of Philadelphia ; Penn returns to England ; Del- 
aware. (1683-1718.) — In 1683 Penn laid out the city of 
Philadelphia (Brotlierly-love). The low price of lands, the 
free government, the fertility of the soil, and the absence of 
persecution attracted many settlers, so that in a very few 
years Pennsylvania became one of the most important colo- 
nies, growing more in five years than New York had grown 
in fifty. Members- of the Society of Friends from Wales 
settled the territory north and west of the. new city, while 
others from Germany, under the lead of Francis Daniel Pas- 
torius, settled Germantown. Perhaps in no other colony 
was there a greater variety of nationalities and languages. 

1 A belt of wampum said to have been given to Penn by the Indians at 
Shackamaxon is in the possession of the Pennsylvania Historical Society of 
Philadelphia. The exact date and terms of this famous treaty are disputed. 



PENNSYLVANIA. 



45 



Penn returned to England in 1684, leaving everything in a 
prosperous condition. In 1692 he was deprived of his prov- 
ince on account of suspected sympathy with the exiled 
James II., but it was soon restored to him. He visited it 
again in 1699. There w\as much trouble in regard to the 
rents of land and various other matters, and Penn had 
already made arrangements to sell his province to the crown 
when he was stricken by paralysis and became incapable of 
transacting business. His sons inherited his province at his 
death in 1718. During the war of the Revolution the state 
purchased the interest of the proprietors for £130,000, and 
all quit-rents were abolished. 

There was much jealousy of Pennsylvania among the colo- 
nists of " the lower counties on the Delaware," or " Terri- 
tories " (sect. 41), and, after many efforts to remove this, 
Penn gave the " counties " a lieutenant-governor of their 
own. During the brief royal rule they were reunited to 
Pennsylvania. Some years later, however, owing to fresh 
difficulties, Penn provided for separate legislatures, an 
arrangement which went into effect in 1703. From that 
time, though having the same governor, the colonies were 
separate. Delaware State was declared to be the official 
name when a constitution was adopted in 1776. 




CHAPTER III. 

ENGLISH, FRENCH, AND INDIANS. 
REFERENCES. 

General. — G. Bancroft, History of the United States, ii. 86-313; R. 
Hildretli, History of the United States, ii. Chaps, xviii., xx.-xxv. ; Bryant and 
Gay, Popular History of the United States, vols, i., ii., iii. ; T. ^Y. Higginson, 
Larger History of the United States, pp. 169-215 ; J. A. Doyle, History of 
the United States, Chaps, vii.-xiv., xvi. ; also his larger work, The English 
Colonies in America ; H, C. Lodge, Short History of the English Colonies in 
America; Winsor, Narrative and Critical History of America, vols, iv., v.; 
Francis Parkman, France and England in North America, 9 vols. ; John 
Fiske, The Beginnings of New England; R. G. Thwaits, The Colonies 
(Epochs of American History), pp. 211-284; G. P. Fisher (American His- 
tory series). The Colonial Era. 

Special. — For Indians, see Special References to Chap. i. For New 
England League : American History Leaflets ; No. 7, Articles and Ordinances 
of the Confederation of New England, 1643-1684 ; R. Frothingham, Rise of 
the Republic, pp. 1-71. For the Quakers : James Bowden, History of the 
Society of Friends in America ; R. P. Hallowell, The Quaker Invasion of 
Massachusetts, and The Pioneer Quakers ; Brooks Adams, The Emancipa- 
tion of Massachusetts. For the Witchcraft Delusion : G. Bancroft, History 
of the United States, ii. 58-67 ; Bryant and Gay, Popular History of the 
United States, ii. 450-471 ; R. Hildreth, History of the United States, ii. 145- 
167 ; J. R. Lowell, Among My Books, 1st series. Economic and Social 
History : W. B. Weeden, Economic and Social History of New England, 
2 vols. ; J. R. Lowell, Among My Books, 1st series. New England two Cen- 
turies Ago ; Edward Eggleston, a series of articles on the American Colonies, 
fully illustrated, in the Century Magazine, vols, xxv.-xxx. For Education in 
the Colonies : R. G. Boone, Education in the United States, pp. 9-60. For 
Slavery : R. Hildreth, History of the United States, ii. 417-430 ; G. Bancroft, 
ii. 268-280; Henry Wilson, The Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in 
America, 3 vols. ; John Woolman, Journal (Whittier's edition). Chaps. 
i,-ix., and particularly the Introduction by J. G. Whittier ; J. F. Rhodes, 

46 



ENGLISH, FRENCH, AND INDIANS. 47 

History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850, i. 1-14 ; Horace 
Greeley, The American Conflict, vol. i. ; G. F. Williams, History of the 
Negro Race in America. 

45. The Condition of the Colonists. (1700.) — Cut off from 
the mother country by a wide expanse of ocean, communica- 
tion witli the colonies was slow and hazardous. From the 
accession of James I. to that of William and Mary, England 
had been the scene of religious and political revolutions ; so 
absorbing were the various questions at home, that little time 
was spent in considering the interest of far-away colonies, or 
even for thinking about them. Those who were persecuted 
at home, or who were weary of the strife in church and in 
state, looked upon America as a place of exile or of safety 
from danger. In this way it came about that, except spas- 
modically, the colonies were left much to themselves. The re- 
sult was self-development and the growth of self-dependence ; 
the colonies made their own laws, subject, it is true, to the 
veto of the governor or of the crown, but this was not very 
often exercised. The colonists spoke of themselves as Eng- 
lishmen, and were loyal to the king ; they claimed the rights 
of Englishmen, however, and resented any infringement of 
their rights. At first the settlements were widely separated 
from each other, but as population increased they began to 
see that in many things they had a common interest, and 
while local jealousy was strong and continued long after the 
Revolution, a bond of union also existed. The first tendency 
to united action sprang from a common dread of the Indians. 

46. Relations between the Colonists and the Indians. — The 
Indian was a savage, and with all the instincts of savage life ; 
he was suspicious and crafty, and he had by this time changed 
somewhat in his treatment of the colonists. He had learned 
the use of firearms and of various tools ; he had learned to 



48 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



drink spirits, and he had also been taught by experience 
that the white man generally tried to cheat him out of his 
lands, or in other ways, and when an Indian suffered an in- 
jury at the hands of one settler he considered it perfectly 
legitimate to revenge himself on another. The example of 
the Dutch, of Baltimore, and of William Penn and others,^ 

shows that the fault 
lay with the whites ; for 
where the natives were 
treated well and with 
common justice, there 
was little or no trouble, 
but new comer and na- 
tive lived in harmony 
with each other. The 
number of Indians in 
the country north of 
the Gulf of Mexico 
at the time of the be- 
ginning of its settle- 
ment by the Europeans 
has been variously es- 
timated. Careful stu- 
dents are inclined to 
believe that they num- 
bered about 500,000, 
and east of the Mississippi River less than 250,000. They 
had suffered greatly from wars with each other, and still more 
from disease, so that much of the land was really uninhabited 

1 "The Hudson Bay Company for exactly two centuries, from 1G70 to 
1870, held a charter for the monopoly of trade with the Indians here over an 
immense extent of territory. . . . During that whole period, allowing for rare 
casualties, not a single act of hostility occurred between the traders and the 
natives." — Narrative and Critical History of America^ i. 207. 




AN INDIAN CHIEF. 
(From a drawing in Hariot's Narrative, 1585.) 



JOHN ELIOT. 



49 



in the early part of the seventeenth century ; but accustomed 
to roam from place to place in search of game, they consid- 
ered the hunting grounds their own, and naturally resisted 
seizure of them by the whites. ^ 

47. John Eliot. (1661.) — A few of the settlers wished to 
convert the Indian to Christianity and to better his condition. 
Among these was John 
Eliot, known as the 
Apostle to the Indi- 
ans, who translated the 
Bible for their benefit. 
This book, one of the 
earliest literary works 
in America, was pub- 
lished at Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, in 1663, 
the New Testament 
having been published 
in 1661. At Harvard 
College, too, there was 
provision made for in- 
struction of the Indian 
youth, but these things 
were the exception, es- 
pecially in the earliest 
daj^s. 




AN INDIAN WOMAN. 
(From a drawing in Hariot's Narrative, 1585.) 



48. Situation and Growth of the English Colonies. (1700.) — 

The English had gained possession of the choicest parts of 

1 When the great amount of land which is necessary to support man in the 
hunter stage is considered, the above estimate does not seem out of the way. 
Contrary to a rather common notion, it is likely that the Indians are now 
slowly increasing in numbers. According to the Census of 1890 there were, 
exclusive of Alaska, 249,273 Indians in the United States. 



50 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the new world ; advantages of situation, climate, fertility of 
soil, abundance of navigable streams and safe harbors were 
theirs; in short, everything which might help the develop- 
ment of a hardy, industrious, and energetic race. "There is 
no area in either of the Americas, or for that matter in the 
world outside of Europe, where it would have been possible 
to plant English colonies, that would have been found so 
suitable for the purpose." 

More than any other of the colonizing nations, the English 
came to seek homes in the new world, and in consequence 
turned their attention to improving their surroundings and 
bettering their condition in every way that seemed possible 
to them. It was due to no one thing that they increased 
faster than others in numbers, in power, and in wealth, but to 
a combination of many things. Notwithstanding all their 
advantages, it wf^s long before they occupied more than a 
narrow strip of land along the Atlantic coast ; for the settlers 
were very few in number, they were poor, and many of them 
ignorant; the settlements were widely separated from each 
other, and even in 1750 comparatively little was known of the 
country west of the Alleghanies. 

Their competitors for the soil of the new country were the 
French, who held Nova Scotia, Canada, the Great Lakes, and 
the Mississippi valley to the sea, and the Spaniards, who held 
Florida, Texas, and the valley of the Rio Grande. Such was 
the condition of affairs in 1700. 

49. Pequot War. (1636.) — As the settlements increased, 
the Avhites encroached upon the lands of the Indians, who 
naturally resented such action. The first serious war was 
with the Pequots, in 1636 ; this was waged almost exclusively 
within the bounds of Connecticut. Massachusetts aided the 
settlers in Connecticut, and by the aid also of the Narragan- 



THE PEQUOT WAR. 



51 



setts the Pequots were almost exterminated. Roger Williams 
had prevented the Narragansetts from fighting on the side of 
their brethren, and had also tried to persuade the Pequots to 
keep peace. One important result of the Pequot war was to 
make the colonists see the advantage to be gained from a union 
for the common defence. Accordingly, Rhode Island proposed 
that a union of the colonies should be formed for protection 
against the Indians, also that the Indians should be treated 









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THE MYLES STANDISH HOUSE. BUILT 1666. 

with justice. The colonies of New Haven and Connecticut, 
being liable to attacks from both the Indians and the Dutch, 
were very willing to make such a league, but Massachusetts 
was still unwilling to join hands with those who had fled 
from her borders and those whom for various reasons she had 
expelled from her limits. 

50. The United Colonies of New England. (1643.) — In 1643, 

however, a league was formed under the title of '' The United 
Colonies of New England." By the terms of tlie agreement, 
the colonies, while retaining their individual independence, 



52 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

were each to appoint two commissioners to meet regularly at 
different towns to " hear, examine, weigh, and determine all 
affairs of our war or peace " and things of common interest. 
The association was stated to be for " offence and defence, 
mutual advice and succor upon all just occasions " ; its exist- 
ence was necessary because of the '' outrages " of the 
Indians, as well as " distractions in England," which prevented 
the colonies from seeking the advice and getting the pi'o- 
tection which at other times they might well exj)ect. 
Massachusetts, Plymouth, New Haven, and Connecticut joined 
in the league, which lasted until 1684. This union was not 
of as much practical benefit as might have been expected, but 
it was of great value in teaching the colonists that a union 
was possible, and as forming a plan for future modification. 
It did not accomplish more because the colonists, already 
accustomed to self-government, did not like to give up any of 
their privileges ; the settlements, moreover, were far apart, 
and Massachusetts was overbearing and dictatorial. 

51. King Philip's War. (1675 -1676.) —King Philip's war 
was the most severe conflict with the Indians. It was begun 
by a chief of that name who lived at Mt. Hope, near where 
Bristol, Rhode Island, now stands. His father, ^Nlassasoit, 
had been a firm friend of the Pilgrims, and remained friendly 
forty years. But Philip was jealous and suspicious of the 
English, and became their bitter enemy. He nursed his 
revengeful feelings twelve years, and then attacked S^vanzey, 
burning the houses and murdering the inhabitants. Other 
tribes joined him, and within a few weeks attacks were made 
upon the settlements, in 1675, along a line of about two 
hundred miles. The war lasted two years, during which 
time twelve or thirteen settlements Avere destroyed, several 
hundred settlers lost their lives, and many families were sepa- 
rated, different members being carried into captivity. The 




FRENCH 
EXPLORATIONS AND POSTS. 

Marquette & Joliet's Route, in 1673 
La Salle's Route to Ft. Crevecoeur 

and return, 1679 

La Salle's Route from Ft. St. Louis 

to the Gulf, 1682 

Hennepin's Route, 1680 



89 liongitude "West 85 frot" Gree^iwich 



THE DUTCH AND FRENCH. 53 

Indians were treated with great barbarity. Philip's chikl 
and other captives were sold to the Bermudas into slavery ; 
'' death or slavery was the penalty for all known or suspected 
to have been concerned in shedding English blood." King 
Philip was finally killed, and the war came to an end. 

52. The Dutch ; the French. (1605-1682.) — But the Indians 
were not the only enemies the English settlers had. The 
Dutch in New Netherland were a continual menace to the 
Connecticut and New Haven colonies, while all the settle- 
ments had a common enemy in the French. The latter held 
possession of the territory west of the English settlements, 
though the English claimed ownership of tiie lands westward 
to the Pacific Ocean. 

In 1605 (sect. 8) the French succeeded in making a 
permanent colony in Acadie (Nova Scotia) at Port Royal 
(Annapolis) ; in 1608 Champlain founded Quebec, and later 
explored the beautiful lake which still bears his name. 
While the English were making new homes for themselves, 
and working out the problems of local self-government along 
the Atlantic coast, the French were pushing their way through 
the St. Lawrence valley, and along the Great Lakes and the 
Mississippi River. The great motives which impelled tlie 
French Avere both commercial and missionary. Wherever 
the fur trader might go, or the soldier might be sent, 
there went also the Roman Catholic priest, trying to con- 
vert the native to Christianity. No difficulties, no dangers, 
were too great to deter him from his pious mission. Of 
the explorers, the Jesuit Marquette and the fur trader Joliet 
reached the INIississippi in 1673, and another explorer. La 
Salle, after discovering the Ohio, pushed on to the Missis- 
sippi and followed it to its mouth (1682), claiming for the 
French monarch the vast territory which lie had traversed. 



54 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

and calling the land that stretched westward and northward 
from the mouth of the great river, Louisiana in honor of his 
king, Louis XIV. Hennepin, a Jesuit, one of La Salle's 
party, went north and explored the Mississippi River as far 
as the Falls of St. Anthony. La Salle, while on a fruitless 
expedition in Texas, was killed, in 1687, by traitors among 
his followers. 

53. French and Indians; Strength and Weakness of the 
French. — The policy of the French toward the Indians w as 
quite different from that of the English. The latter regarded 
the Indians as enemies, to be distrusted and looked upon as 
inferiors. The former, on the contrary, treated them as 
equals, intermarried with them, tried to convert them, and 
in every way endeavored to gain and to retain their friend- 
ship. The result was that the French had no trouble with 
the natives, except with those who took the side of the 
English. Thus a danger never absent from the minds of the 
English was almost unknown to the French, who were able 
to accomplish far more than w^ould otherwise have been pos- 
sible with the number of men at their command. 

As one piincipal object of the French Avas to control the 
fur trade, part of their plan was to connect Canada with the 
mouth of the Mississippi River by a line of forts and trading 
posts. And they did in fact control the vast region west of 
the Alleghanies and east of the Mississippi in this way. 
New France, as they called this territory, was an immense 
empire of itself, and, surrounding the English possessions on 
the land side, was a constant menace to their safety, espe- 
cially as the two great water-ways, the St. Lawi'ence and the 
Mississippi, were in the hands of the French. The weakness 
of the French colonists consisted partly in the fact that tlieir 
numljers were so few, but chiefly ''that the settlers rep- 



ENGLISH, FRENCH, AND INDIANS. 55 

resented a colonizing scheme based on trading posts ; while 
their neighbors established and fought for homes in the 
English sense." The strength of the French consisted in 
their policy towards the Indians, in their excellent generals 
and soldiers, and in the fact that they were united; while 
the English were divided among themselves, were under 
different governments, and were full of local jealousies. 

54. English Civil War ; Effect upon the Colonies. (1643-1660.) 

— The difficulties in England already referred to (sect. 50) 
culminated in the civil war. The New England colonies 
took the success of the Parliamentary party very quietly; 
for being Puritans, they naturally sympathized with their 
brethren in their old home ; but most of the colonies were 
careful not to commit themselves to either side, and in Mary- 
land alone was there anything like a struggle. It was soon 
found that Parliament intended to assume all the powers 
which had been claimed by the king. But the colonists had 
no idea of yielding any fuller obedience to the new govern- 
ment than they had yielded to the old. In fact, through the 
neglect with which they had been treated, they had learned 
that they could manage very well without a king or Parlia- 
ment, so far as making their own laws was concerned. 
Oliver Cromwell, the Protector, seems to have fully appreci- 
ated the value and importance of the colonies, for under his 
rule no attempt Avas made to interfere with them. 

55. The Restoration; Policy of the Government. (1660- 
1684.) — With the restoration of Charles II. in 1660 a new 
order of things came in. The Navigation Acts regulating 
the trade of the colonies, which had been passed by Parlia- 
ment in 1651, but which had not been hitherto enforced, 
were now put into action. The English fleet which seized 
the Dutch colony of New Netherland (sect. 33) brought 



56 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

over four commissioners whose business it was to examine 
into the state of the New England colonies. Rhode Island, 
which had succeeded in getting very liberal charters from 
the king (sect. 19), acknowledged their authority, but Mas- 
sachusetts hekl to her charter, and would have little to do 
with them ; and finally, in 1684, the charter was annulled by 
the English courts, and Massachusetts became a royal colony. 
Just as this policy was made known to the people, the king 
died and was succeeded by James II., who was a strong 
believer in the royal prerogative. By the " forfeiture of the 
charter" (so-called) the king claimed supreme power, and 
he determined to unite all the northern English colonies 
under one governor. 

56. Rule of Andros. (1686-1689.) — In 1686 the charters 
of Connecticut and of Rhode Island were demanded, and the 
latter given up. In 1686 Sir Edmund Andros, already 
known to the colonists as an arbitrary man, was sent out as 
the governor of Massachusetts, Plymouth, New Hampshire, 
and Maine. In 1687, it is said, Andros went to Hartford and 
demanded the charter of Connecticut; in the discussion 
which followed, the candles were suddenly blown out, and 
when they were relighted, the document was not to be 
found. In the confusion it had been seized and hidden in 
a hollow oak, which henceforth bore the name of the Charter 
Oak. After the revolution in England the charter Avas 
brought out in 1689 and went into force again. The oak 
tree stood until 1856, when it was blown down. Like 
many other stories of the earlier days there are strong 
grounds for doubting the accuracy of the ti'adition. In 1688 
Andros was made governor of New York and New Jersey as 
well, and thus all the colonies north of the Delaware were 
united under one rule in accordance with the king's plan. 



INTOLERANCE IN THE COLONIES. 57 

As soon as the news of the succession of William and Mary 
reached New England, the men of Boston imprisoned Andros, 
who, at command of King William, was sent to England. 

57. Restoration of Charters ; Massachusetts. (1691.) — Con- 
necticut and Rhode Island had their charters restored, but 
Massachusetts did not regain hers. A new charter was, how- 
ever, given in 1691, which united the colonies of Massachusetts 
Bay, Plymouth, Maine, and Nova Scotia. By this charter the 
governor, lieutenant-governor, and secretary were appointed 
by the crown, while the people elected the representatives, 
but all laws were subject to an immediate veto by the gov- 
ernor, as well as one by the crown within three years. The 
governor could also *' convene, adjourn, or dissolve " the legis- 
lature at his pleasure. These restrictions made Massachu- 
setts, though having a charter, really a royal colony. 

58. Intolerance in the Colonies. — One of the most difficult 
things to do is to so imagine one's self back in the past as to 
understand the life, circumstances, and the modes of thought 
of the men and women of an earlisr day. In no history is 
this more difficult than in the, history of the early settlers of 
America. In the sixteenth century one of the main objects 
which the colonists set before them was to spread the Gospel, 
and yet so intolerant were they, that with the single exception 
of Rhode Island there was not a colony which did not provide 
punishment, sometimes death, for persons who differed from 
those in power in regard to religious opinion. Even in 
Pennsylvania, belief in Christ was essential to the holding 
of office. In fact, in the seventeenth century such a thing 
as toleration was hardly thought of. The Puritans came in 
order to find a place where they could worship God as they 
pleased, but they had no intention of letting others worship 
as they pleased. We have, already seen how Roger Williams 



58 



HISTORY OF THP: UNITED STATES. 



and Anne Hutchinson were compelled to leave Massachusetts, 
but that was not all ; it was not until 1680 that Baptists 
could Avorship with freedom in the colony. 



59. The Quakers. (1656-1661.) — But the special object of 
dislike seems to have been the Friends, or Quakers. In 
July, 1656, two Quaker women came to Boston. They 
were put in jail, their books burnt, and " after having been 
about five weeks prisoners . . . [the] master of a vessel was 
bound in one hundred pound bond to carry them back." In 
the same year a law was passed forbidding any ship-master 
from bringing any Quakers into the colony, under a penalty 

of XlOO, and if any such were 
brought, the captain was com- 
pelled to take them away again. 
The Quakers themselves were 
meanwhile to be sent to the 
house of correction " to be se- 
verely whipped," "kept con- 
stantly to work, and none 
suffered to converse or speak 
with them." But this did not 
stop their coming, and so in 
1658 a new law provided for the 
banishment of visiting and resi- 
dent Quakers and imposed death as a penalty for returning 
after being banished. Under this law Mary Dyer and three 
others were hanged on Boston Common. During the perse- 
cution, fines, imprisonment, whipping, keeping in irons, brand- 
ing with the letter H (heretic), boring through the tongue 
with a hot iron, whipping at " the cart's tail " from village 
to village, and death were the punishments inflicted. At last 
orders came from the crown that such proceedings must be 
stopped. 




WHIPPING AT THE CART'S TAIL. 



WITCHCRAFT DELUSION. 



59 



60. Witchcraft Delusion. (1648-1693.) — The witchcraft 
delusion is something almost incomprehensible to educated 
people at the present day. Belief in witchcraft came down 
from very early times, and nearly all the nations of Europe 
had laws against it. As late as 1665 the English Parliament 
passed a law punishing witchcraft with death, under which 
not a few suffered. It was 
not strange that the delusion 
had its day in America. 
As early as 1648 a supposed 
witch was executed in Bos- 
ton, but the great excitement 
relative to the matter was at 
Salem in 1692. More than 
fifty persons were variously 
persecuted, and twenty, in- 
cluding a clergyman, had 
been put to death before the 
frenzy spent itself. It was 
almost impossible for the 
accused to defend himself, 
and a charge was equivalent 
to conviction. While the 
excitement lasted, the delu- 
sion took hold of all ranks 
and classes, even the most 
highly educated ; fortunately 
sense of a 




THE PILLORY. 



few revolted aoainst the 



the time was short, the good 
injustice, and the indis- 
criminate accusations opened the eyes of others, so that in 
about six months (February, 1693), there was a general open- 
ing of the prison doors and a cessation of charges. One of the 
judges who had condemned a number to death annually kept 
a day of fasting as a token of his repentance. The witchcraft 



60 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



delusion in America has attracted so much attention that it 
is often overlooked that there were many more executions 
for witchcraft in England, where the delusion lasted much 
longer, five persons having been put to death on that account 
as late as 1722. 



61. Colonial Beliefs and Customs. — It must not be forgotten 
that the colonists carried their customs and many of their laws 

with them from their old homes, 
and that very different ideas of 
the duty of the state towards 
its citizens were entertained in 
that day. Almost everybody be- 
lieved that it was legitimate in 
the state to regulate the dress, the 
liabits, the wages, and in short 
almost everything which related 
to its citizens and their inter- 
ests. The laws regarding Sun- 
day observance were very severe ; 
everything except that which was 
absolutely necessary was posi- 
tively forbidden, and infraction of the laAV was punishable by 
fine or otherwise. Lying, scolding, swearing, getting drunk, 
all Avere criminal, and each had its appointed punishment. 
Among the penalties was, for a common scold, the ducking- 
stool. It was a chair fastened to a long plank, the middle 
of the plank resting on a cross-piece of wood ; this was taken 
to the water's edge, tlie woman was tied in the chair, and 
then she was dipped in the water as often as seemed neces- 
sary to inflict an adequate punishment. Again, we hear of 
persons being placed in the pillory, or in the stocks ; of mak- 
ing the culprit wear a letter on the breast indicative of the 




A DRUNKARD. 



COMMERCE; PIRACY. 



61 



crime, such as D, for drunkard ; of branding on the hand ; 
of cropping the ears ; of boring the tongue ; of flogging on 
the bare back in public. Though the Puritans of New 
England were the most rigid in these matters, they were 
not alone, for the other colonies have to bear their share of 
any blame that may be given to the beliefs and practices of 
those days.^ 

62. Commerce ; Piracy. — The weights and measures and 
the money used in the English colonies were naturally those 
with which the colonists had been familiar in their old homes. 




PINE-TREE SHILLING. 



Almost all of the colonies after a time coined money of their 
own ; of the coins the Massachusetts pine-tree shilling, as it 
was called from the pine-tree represented on one side of the 
coin, may be taken as an example. There was comparatively 
little commerce in the colonies for some time, but gradually a 
profitable trade sprung up with the West Indies, with the 
mother country, and among the colonists themselves. These 
commercial enterprises naturally fell for the most part to 
New England on account of the sterility of her soil, which 
compelled her citizens to turn to other employments than 
agriculture. The New Englanders became great ship-build- 

1 It is hardly necessary to say that many of the so-called Blue Laws of 
Connecticut are an invention, and never existed except in the imagination. 



62 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



ers, and among the most skilful fishermen and whalers that 
the world has ever known, and their vessels were seen on 
every sea. Piracy on the high seas was then no uncommon 
thing, and the pirates committed great depredations upon 
commerce. One of the most notorious and most daring of 
the pirates was Captain William (or Robert) Kidd. He was 
supposed to have buried treasure at various places on the At- 
lantic coast, and some, 
even to the present 
time, have sought to 
find his hidden wealth. 
Before the middle of 
the eighteenth cent- 
ury piracy had largely 
passed away. 

63. Social Life in the 
Colonies ; Slavery. — In 
social life the colonists 
underwent many priva- 
tions, but perhaps we of 
this day overestimate 
them. In all house- 
hold conveniences the 
people of the seventeenth and the eighteenth century, even 
in Europe, were sadly deficient according to our notions, and 
except in the case of the earliest settlers there was not so 
much difference between Europe and America. Roads were 
bad, but so they were in England; tea and coffee were 
scarce in the early days, but so they were in Europe. Man- 
ufactories were few, being discouraged by the home govern- 
ment, for fear of injuring the export trade from England ; in 
every family, therefore, there was a spinning-wheel, and the 




A COLONIAL FLAX-WHEEL. 



COLLEGES FOUNDED; NEWSPAPERS. 63 

home-spun linen was long the pride of the housewives : and 
woollen cloth was also woven for the fathers and sons. Corn- 
huskings and apple-bees were times of amusement as well as 
of work ; but in New England amusements were few and holi- 
days seldom. In the southern colonies life was taken more 
easily ; horse-racing and cock-fighting, especially in Virginia, 
were common diversions. In Virginia and Maryland the 
planters formed an upper class which rather looked down 
upon those who had to labor with their hands, and in New 
York the old Dutch patroons held somewhat similar ideas. 
Slavery existed in all the colonies, though in New Eng- 
land and the middle colonies there were few slaves and the 
number was decreasing. Already in Pennsylvania in 1688 
Pastorius and the Friends in Germantown had made a pub- 
lic written protest ^ against slavery, and in nearly all the 
colonies the system was regarded as an evil to be gotten rid 
of as soon as practicable. 

64. Colleges Founded; Newspapers. (1636-1704.) — In the 

earliest days, the clergymen were almost the only educated 
men, but the colonists had shown their estimation of the 
value of education by founding, in 1636, at Cambridge (then 
Newtown), a high school or college, to which John Harvard, 
a graduate of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, England, left 
his library and about four thousand dollars, a large sum in 
those da3^s. The college was named in honor of the giver of 
this noble foundation. In Virginia, the College of William 
and Mary, named after the reigning king and queen of Eng- 
land, was established in 1692. In 1700 ten Congregational 
ministers met and each gave ten books toward the library of 
a new college to be established in Connecticut ; such was the 

1 " It is noteworthy as the first protest made by a religious body against 
negro slavery." 



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64 



INDUSTRY; KING WILLIAM'S WAR. 



65 



beginning of Yale College. Books were few, and so were 
newspapers, the first newspaper being the Boston Neivs Letter, 
established in 1704. 



65. Industry of the Colonists ; Intercourse between the Colo- 
nies. — The people generally of the English colonies were 
industrious; everything that they could make for themselves 
they made, and made well. Probably in no part of the world 
was there greater industry seen, and nowhere were the results 
more satisfactory. 

For many years after the settlement of the various colo- 
nies, communication between them was very difficult and 
consequently infrequent. It was much easier to go to 
England from Boston, than to go from Boston to Vir- 
ginia by land. The stage coaches were lumbering vehicles 
and were little improved 
as time went on. As the 
colonies increased in popu- 
lation, intercourse became 
easier and more frequent. 
But it took years to show 
the colonists that they had 
common interests. Among 
tlie influences which tended 
to bring the settlements together were the dangers from the 
Indians, from the French on the north and west, and from 
the Spaniards ou the south and southwest. But even this 
bond was a weak one, so distrustful were the colonists of 
each other. 




A STAGE COACH, 1731. 



66. Intercolonial Wars ; King William's War ; First Cong^ress of 
the Colonies. (1689-1697.) — The seventeenth and eighteenth 
centuries were in Europe a time of almost constant war, and 



66 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

it Avas natural that the quarrels should be carried across the 
Atlantic and fought out in the new world as well as in the 
old. So when England and France went to war in 1689, their 
respective colonies did the same. This was the first inter- 
colonial war, and is known as King William's War from the 
ruling king of England, William III. The French with their 
Indian allies attacked the settlements on the edge of the north- 
ern colonies ; and at Schenectady, New York, and at Salmon 
Falls, New Hampshire, terrible massacres took place, and 
along the border of civilization midnight attacks, hairbreadth 
escapes, wives and children taken into captivity, and whole 
families tomahaAvked, were the results of this cruel and bar- 
barous conflict. The common danger aroused the colonists, 
and by invitation of Massachusetts, a congress of commis- 
sioners met, April, 1690, at Ncav York, to discuss affairs, and 
to try to arrange some plan of attack and defence. Only 
Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New York re- 
sponded, but this meeting is interesting as the first attempt 
at a congress of all the English colonies in America. It 
was determined to attack the French b}^ land and by sea. 
The land expedition was a total failure, never even reaching 
Canada ; but the naval expedition took the fortified town of 
Port Royal, and conquered the province of Acadie, in which 
it was situated, tliough failing in the attempt against Quel^ec 
and Montreal. At length, in 1697, by the peace of Ryswick, 
hostilities came to an end, Avhile by the terms of the peace 
territories were restored as they Avere before the Avar, much 
to the chagrin of those who had Avon Acadie. 

67. Second Intercolonial War; QLueen Anne's War. (1702- 
1713.) — The second intercolonial war was known in Europe 
as the Avar of the Spanish Succession, but in the colonies 
as Queen Anne's War. This conflict Avas betAveen England, 



THE INTERCOLONIAL WARS. 67 

Holland, and Germany on- the one side, against Spain and 
France on the other. The Five Nations (Indians) who lived 
between the French and the English settlements, having 
made peace Avith the French, did not take part in this struggle, 
so New England was the scene of the warfare, though the 
most southern colonies suffered somewhat from the Spaniards. 
Again was Port Royal taken from the French by the united 
efforts of British and colonial troops, and its name was 
changed, in honor of the queen, to Annapolis. An expedition 
against Quebec failed disastrously. After eleven years, 
peace was made, by the terms of which England retained 
most of Acadie, which became henceforth Nova Scotia, the 
possession of which gave England control of the fisheries. 
During this Avar Massachusetts suffered greatly from the 
Indians. Deerfield having been surprised, many persons 
were massacred, and over a hundred were carried into 
captivity. Haverhill also was the scene of a terrible attack. 
Notwithstanding the peace, there were for a long time Indian 
Avars, Avhich Avere marked Avith the usual dreadful scenes. 
During the conflict, the Tuscaroras, a tribe of North Carolina, 
having suffered at the hands of the settlers whom they had 
attempted to exterminate, migrated north Avard and joined the 
Five Nations in northern and western Ncav York, Avhich noAv 
became the "Six Nations" (sect. 2). 

68. Third Intercolonial War; King George's War. (1744- 
1748.) — The third Avar, King George's War, was again a con- 
flict betAveen England and France. This lasted about four 
years, and the only important incident Avas the capture of the 
strongly fortified town of Louisburg, on the island of Cape 
Breton, by the combined force of colonial and British 
troops. This place Avas considered the Gibraltar of America, 
and the daring, the bravery, and the perseverance of the 



68 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

colonial troops gave the colonists a reliance upon their own 
resources which they never forgot nor lost. To the disgust 
of the colonies, Louisburg was returned to the French in 
1748, on the making of peace. 

69. Lessons of the Intercolonial Wars. — In the three wars 
which have been described. New England bore the brunt of 
the conflict and suffered the heaviest losses, though in the 
expedition against Louisburg several of the other colonies 
had taken part. The colonies had suffered heavy losses in 
property and life, and gained but little, the conquest of Nova 
Scotia and the control of the Newfoundland fisheries by the 
English being the chief. They had, liowever, learned two 
things : (1) That they would have to protect themselves, 
England being ready to sacrifice their interests at any time 
for her own advantage ; and (2) that in efficiency, the colo- 
nial, or, as they were often called, the provincial troops, were 
quite equal to the British regulars, while the provincial 
officers were often superior to the British officers. 

70. Slave Trade. (1713-1776.) — A notable instance of the 
disregard paid to the wishes of the colonists by the mother 
country was one of the provisions of the treaty of Utrecht, 
at the end of Queen Anne's War, 1713. This was an agree- 
ment known as the " Assiento," by whicli England secured 
the right to supply the Spanish-American colonies with 
negroes from Africa, and in doing this the company, in whicli 
the queen was a stockholder, also supplied the English colo- 
nies with slaves. It is estimated that in this way about 
300,000 negro slaves were brought to the British settlements 
before 1776. Again and again had colonial legislatures 
passed acts forbidding the slave trade, only to have them 
vetoed by the royal governors or by the home government. 



CHAPTER IV. 

STRUGGLE FOR COLONIAL EMPIRE. 
REFERENCES. 

GeneraL — G. Bancroft, History of the United States, ii. 319-565 ; R. 
Hildreth, History of the United States, ii. 433-513 ; Bryant and Gay, Popular 
History of the United States, iii. 254-328; A. B. Hart, Formation of the 
Union (Epochs of American History), pp. 1-41 ; W. M. Sloane, French 
War and Revohition (American History Series), pp. 1-115; F. Parkman, 
Montcahn and Wolfe, 2 vols., Conspiracy of Pontiac ; R. Frothingham, 
Rise of the Republic, 101-157 ; B. A. Hinsdale, The Old North West, pp. 
21-69 ; J. R. Green, Short History of the English People, Chap, x., sect, ii. ; 
F. W. Longman, Frederick the Great (Epoch Series), pp. 167-184 ; J. A. 
Doyle, History of the United States, Chaps, xv., xvi. ; John Fiske, War of 
Independence, pp. 1-26, also his American Revolution ; J. R. Seeley, The 
Expansion of England, Course 1, Lectures iv.-viii. ; J. M. Ludlow, The War 
of American Independence (Epoch Series), pp. 58-64; Winsor, Narrative 
and Critical History of America, vol. v. 

Biographies. — American Statesman Series, H. C. Lodge, George AVash- 
ington ; J. T. Morse, Jr., Benj. Franklin ; J. K. Hosmer, Samuel Adams ; 
John Fiske, Irving's Washington ; John Bigelow, Benj. Franklin ; Franklin's 
Autobiography, 

Special. — For Washington's Expedition : W. Irving, Life of Washington ; 
Washington's Writings (Sparks' Edition, ii. 422-437), (W. C. Ford's Edition, 
i. 1-124). For Albany Convention: Franklin's Works (Sparks' Edition), i. 
176-178, iii. 22-55; Old South Leaflets, No. 9. For Peace of 1763: Ameri- 
can History Leaflets, No. 5, Extracts from the Treaty of Paris, 1763, etc. ; 
J. R. Seeley, The Expansion of England, as above. 

71. The French and the English Colonies. (1750.) — By the 

middle of the eighteenth century it became evident that 
there would be, before many years had gone by, a struggle 
between the European settlers for the control of the North 

69 



70 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

American continent, and that the great conflict would be 
betAveen the French and English. Up to this time the Eng- 
lish settlers had hugged the Atlantic coast, only a few pene- 
trating beyond the Alleghanies. Beyond those mountains, 
the region from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico was 
held by the French, who, to secure it, had built about sixty 
forts. The skill with which the position of these posts was 
selected is shown by the fact that many of them liave since be- 
come cities or towns, as Fort Wayne, Detroit, Toledo, Natchez, 
and NcAV Orleans. The French colonists had made great 
efforts to establish settlements in the Mississippi valley, but, 
with the exception of New Orleans and Mobile, they had not 
been very successful. The home government had neither 
encouraged emigration, nor given much aid to the colonies ; 
indeed nothing helpful could have been expected from the 
corrupt government of Louis XIV. After one hundred and 
fifty years of occupation, the population of the French 
colonies did not exceed 125,000, while their English rivals 
probably numbered 1,250,000. The French possessions were 
held by a string of forts, through a country almost as wild as 
when the continent was discovered by the Cabots. The bulk 
of the population was in Canada, and with the exception of 
New Orleans and one or two otlier places, there was hardly 
any other real settlement outside of Canada. 

72. Ohio Company; Activity of the French; Washington. 

(1753.) — The English in their charter had claimed the con- 
tinent westward to the South Seas, as the Pacific was then 
called; the French claimed all the territory west of the 
Alleglianies, by right of discovery and exploration ; while the 
Indians claimed the whole, by right of occupation ; but 
neither the French nor the English regarded any claims that 
clashed with their personal interests. The conflicting claims 



WASHINGTON'S EXPEDITION. 71 

to this vast tract had not caused trouble until 1748, when a 
land company, known as the Ohio Company, was organized 
by English and Virginian speculators, whose object was to 
induce emigrants to move to the lands in what was really a 
part of Pennsylvania, but wdiich Virginia claimed under her 
charter. Explorers who visited the region brought back 
glowing accounts of the country, and surveyors were sent 
out to survey and open roads. As soon as the French heard 
of this movement, they began to increase the number of their 
forts and to open a second line nearer the English border. 
They built one at Presque Isle (Erie), also at Venango, and 
at Franklin, Pennsylvania, and at many other points ; they 
seized the company's surveyors, and destroyed an English 
post on the Miami. Governor Dinwiddle of Virginia sent 
George Washington, then a land surveyor, and only twenty- 
one years of age,i to carry an official letter to the French, 
protesting against the occupation of lands belonging to Vir- 
ginia. Washington was also ordered to ascertain the dispo- 
sition of the Indians towards the English, and, if possible, 
gain their friendship. 

73. Washington's Expedition ; Surrenders to French ; French 
and Indian War. (1754.) — The trip was one of great danger, 
but after having experienced more than one hairbreadth es- 
cape, Washington returned in safety. The accounts which 
he brought back amounted to a declaration of war, for the 
French flatly refused to give up their posts. This was in 
1753. Early in 1754 the Virginia legislature voted men and 
money to protect the posts which had been begun in the 
disputed territory. Washington Avas placed second in com- 
mand, but soon after the expedition had started, he became 

1 George Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, 22d 
February (11th, Old Style), 1732. 



72 HISTORY Ol^ THE UNITED STATES. 

chief, by the death of the superior officer. His aim was to 
protect a fort which the Ohio Company liad begun at the 
junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers. The 
French were as fully aware as the English of the value of the 
position, and pushing ahead, took the post and built a fort at 
the place themselves, naming it Fort Du Quesne. This was 
where the city of Pittsburg noAv is. Advancing to meet the 
Virginian forces, they were successful in compelling Wash- 
ington to surrender, July 4th, 1754, though on the honorable 
terms that he and his men should be allowed to return home. 
Previously, in attacking a small body of French and Indians, 
Washington had begun the active hostilities of a war full of 
more than the usual suffering, loss, and horror, and whose 
results have hardly ever been surpassed in their far-reaching 
influence. This war, known in America as the French and 
Indian War, and in Europe as the Seven Years' War, differed 
from previous colonial wars in the following particulars: that 
actual hostilities were begun in America ; that the conflict 
was a struggle for supremacy between the Latin and English 
races ; that it decided the question which should be the 
colonizing nation of the world ; and that, before its conclusion, 
most of the nations of Europe were involved. 

74. Albany Convention ; Franklin's Plan of Union. (1754.) — 
The colonies realized as they never had done before that 
there was a common danger threatening them, and that upon 
the conflict, Avhich they saw was imminent, depended the 
question of their expansion, perhaps of their freedom. The 
cause of Virginia was felt to be a common one, and all the 
colonies voted to aid her. The other wars had been brought 
on mainly by the quarrels of England and France, about 
matters in which the colonies had little concern ; this affected 
their most vital interests. The English government advised 



FOURTH INTERCOLONIAL WAR. 73 

the colonies to unite in repelling the danger. In 1754 
delegates from New England, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and 
NeAY York met at Albany to consider the state of affairs, and 
meet delegates from the Six Nations of the Iroquois, whom 
they hoped to gain over to tlie English side, or to induce to 
remain neutral. 

At this convention of twenty-five men were some that 
afterwards became well known, among them Benjamin Frank- 
lin. Here, also, a plan of union, drawn up by Franklin, 
called the Albany plan, Avas adopted, and forwarded to the 
colonial legislatures and to England. But the former unani- 
mously rejected it on the ground that it gave too much power 
to the crown, while the English government rejected it on the 
ground, that it gave too much power to the colonists. The 
meeting, however, did much good in bringing the colonies 
closer together. 

75. Fourth Intercolonial War. (1754.) — Though there had 
been no formal declaration of war, both England and France 
sent additional troops to be ready for the inevitable conflict. 
Between the English colonies and the French possessions 
there was a belt of forest and mountains which was almost 
impassable for troops, and even for small bodies of soldiers. 
The lines of attack were of course along the natural lines of 
communication. These were ; (1) The River St. Lawrence ; 
(2) Lakes George and Champlain; (3) Niagara River. On 
these lines, Louisburg protected the approach to the St. 
Lawrence, and threatened the fisheries, and was also the base 
of the attack for the French against the English. Quebec, 
the most strongly fortified post in America, unless Louis- 
burg be excepted, was the key to the St. Lawrence and 
the valley of the river ; Forts Crown Point and Ticonderoga 
defended the Lake Champlain route; while Fort Niagara 



74 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

controlled the Upper Lakes and the northern part of the 
Mississippi valley. Fort Du Quesne controlled the middle 
region on the west, and so long as it was held by the French, 
the middle colonies of Pennsylvania and Virginia were in 
danger of an attack from both French and Indians. 

76. Braddock's Expedition ; his Defeat. (1755.) — The Eng- 
lish sent oat as commander-in-chief General Edward Braddock, 
and it was determined to attack the French in Acadie, at 
Crown Point, at Niagara, and at Fort Du Quesne. Braddock 
led the expedition against the latter place himself. He had 
already been warned by Benjamin Franklin against ambushes 
and Indian methods of warfare, and although Washington, 
who was one of his aids, as well as other provincial officers, 
repeated the warning, he obstinately persisted in the European 
method of conducting a campaign, with the result of a most 
disastrous rout near Fort Du Quesne, in which he was mor- 
tally wounded, the regular troops utterly defeated, and many 
stores lost. Washington, upon whom the command devolved, 
conducted the retreat skilfully, but besides the losses from 
the expedition, much of the western part of Virginia and 
Pennsylvania was ravaged by the French and Indians. 

77. Expedition against Acadie ; War formally declared. (1756.) 

— The same year, 1755, an expedition against the part of 
Acadie still held by the Frencli, principally what is now New 
Brunswick, was successful. During this campaign occurred 
the expulsion of the French peasants from Grand Pre, whicli 
has been made the basis of Longfellow's "Evangeline." This 
action of the British in expelling so many persons from their 
homes has been the cause of mnch denunciation. It was a 
cruel thing to do, but it was not done until almost " every 
resource of patience and perseverance had been tried in vain." 



EXPEDITION AGAINST ACADIE. 75 

It seemed to be a military necessity. The Acadians were 
simple-minded, ignorant peasants, who conld not be made to 
see that, their country having passed under the rule of Eng- 
land, they could no longer aid the French, but were bound to 
act as subjects of the English king. The unfortunate exiles 
weve distributed among the English colonies from Massa- 
chusetts to Georgia, and eventually many found their way to 
Louisiana, "where their descendants still form a numerous 
and distinct part of the population." 

The expedition against Crown Point, in which the English 
were aided by the Indian allies, was also, after some reverses, 
successful, but an expedition against Fort Niagara was given 
up. In 1756 war was formally declared in Europe, and 
hostilities spread to the continent and to the colonies of 
France and England in India, so " black men fought on the 
coast of Coromandel, and red men scalped each other on the 
Great Lakes of North America," alike ignorant of the real 
causes which set them at variance. 

78. The French at first Successful ; William Pitt. (1757.) — 
The Marquis of Montcalm was now appointed commander-in- 
chief of the French, and he showed himself to be the bravest 
and most skilful officer that had yet appeared in America. 
In a short time he had driven the English out of the disputed 
territory, gained the Indians for the French, and was prepar- 
ing a strong fleet at Louisburg to attack Nova Scotia and 
New England ; so, by the end of 1757, France seemed to have 
the advantage all along the disputed lines. Hitherto the 
British had sent out inefficient officers, who disregarded 
the advice of the provincial officers and looked down upon the 
colonial troops and their methods, but in 1757 William Pitt 
became " Secretary of State," and practically Prime Minister. 
At once the influence of a strong man in the government was 



76 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

felt over the whole world where the English had any interests. 
His clear head enabled him to see the important points to be 
gained, his skill in the knowledge of men led him to appoint 
the right man in the right place, and liis judgment showed 
him what course was best to be pursued. "No man," said 
a soldier of the time, " ever entered Mr. Pitt's closet who did 
not feel himself braver when he came out than when he went 
in." No part of his policy was more successful than his 
treatment of the American colonies. He saw that the struggle 
between England and France was to be fought in the colonies, 
and he acted accordingly. Far from ignoring the colonial 
officers and troops, he treated them with consideration and 
favor, and though the command was still to remain in the 
hands of officers from England, abler men were sent out. The 
result of the policy was soon evident. Again, of necessity, 
the same lines of attack were chosen. 

79. English Plans; General Wolfe. (1759.)— In IToS an 
expedition against Louisburg captured that stronghold. Later 
in the year Fort Du Quesne, deserted b}^ the French on the 
approach of the British troops, was occupied, and renamed 
Fort Pitt, afterwards to become Pittsburg. In this expedi- 
tion Washington took a most important part. But an attack 
on Ticonderoga failed after a heavy loss of life. 

In the year 1759 it was resolved to attack the French 
by three routes : the St. Lawrence, Lake Champlain, and 
Niagara. General James Wolfe, who had shown conspicuous 
bravery and skill at Louisburg, was entrusted with the com- 
mand of an expedition against Quebec, and it was expected 
that the two other expeditioiis, if successful, would join liim in 
the attack upon that stronghold ; but they were not able to 
do so. Quebec being the most important place in Canada, 
Montcalm was compelled to draw men for its defence from 



QUEBEC; ENGLISH TRIUMPH. 77 

other places, and thus weaken his lines. The small number 
of the French now told heavily against them ; they had a 
very small population to draw upon for reinforcements, their 
colonies were poor and weak, and most of the men and sup- 
plies for the army had to be brouglit from abroad — an 
uncertain source of supply, as the English almost controlled 
the mouth of the St. Lawrence. 

80. auebec; English Triumph. (1759-1763.) — The Eng- 
lish, on the contrary, had a population more than ten times 
as great as the French, and all their supplies could be obtained 
easily and cheaply from their own homes ; their settlements, 
moreover, were compact and easily accessible. It was im- 
possible not to foresee the result; only gross carelessness 
could prevent final English success. But the English had to 
meet a brave and skilful leader in Montcalm. More than 
once Wolfe was almost ready to give up the attempt to take 
Quebec. Standing upon a high cliff, between the St. Lawrence 
and the St. Charles, the town was protected on three sides 
by water, and on the fourth rose precipitous rocks, which 
seemed inaccessible to an attacking force ; but Wolfe deter- 
mined to scale them and gain a position on the Heights of 
Abraham nearly west of the city. This was accomplished one 
dark night, and so he was able to meet the French on equal 
ground. In the battle which folloAved, both Wolfe and 
Montcalm were mortally wounded, the former dying upon 
the field of battle. Quebec was surrendered; and though 
the French tried to recapture it, they were unsuccessful, and 
Montreal, their last stronghold, was taken in 1760. The 
forts of Crown Point and Ticonderoga and Niagara had 
been previously captured, so the English were everywhere 
triumphant. The capture of Quebec was the great turning- 
point in American colonial history. 



78 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

81. Conditions of Peace; Results of the War. (1763.) — In 
1763 peace was made, by which France lost all her pos- 
sessions in America, except two small islands near New- 
foundland, reserved for fishing purposes. To England were 
given all the possessions east of the Mississippi River, except 
New Orleans, which, with the land immediately around it, 
was given to France, with all the claims west of the river. 
Spain gave Florida to England in return for Havana, which 
a combined force of English and provincials had captured 
during the war. But France, by a secret treaty, gave New 
Orleans, and all her claims west of the Mississippi River, to 
her ally, Spain, in order to compensate her for the loss of 
Florida. England gave up all claims to lands beyond the 
Mississippi, Avhich thus became for nearly fifty years tlie 
western boundary of English settlements. The North Amer- 
ican continent was now divided between England and Spain, 
the one a strong and the other a weak power, but as the set- 
tlements of each were far distant from those of the other, 
they were not likely to interfere for some time. Thus the 
English could expand in all directions, and the north, south, 
and west were without fear of any foe, except the scattered 
Indian tribes, which were daily becoming less dreaded. The 
colonists had borne the greater part of the expenses of the 
war, and felt its horrors most. Most of the money to carry 
it on had been voted by their own Assemblies, and their own 
representatives had laid the heavy taxes which were necessary 
in order to raise the large sums needed. All the colonies 
liad taken part in the struggl-e, and they had learned to look 
upon the successes as largely their own. They had become 
better acquainted with each other, and had also learned their 
own strength. Through the absence of dangers, they were 
led more and more to depend upon themselves, and to look 
less and less for the aid of the mother country. Prominent 




CENTRAL NORTH AMERICA, 1755-AT THE BEGINNING OF THE FRENCH AND L\DIAN WAR. 




CENTRAL lORTH AMERICA, 17G3-AFTER THE FRENCH AND INDUN WAR. 

(According to Peace of Paris) 



CONSPIRACY OF PONTIAC. 79 

Frenchmen and others saw this at the time, and said that, in 
giving up Canada, France was preparing the way for the 
independence of the English colonies. Benjamin Franklin, 
though one of the shrewdest of men, thought otherwise. 

82. Conspiracy of Pontiac. (1763-1769.) — Before the Eng- 
lish were secui-e in their new possessions, there was a war 
with the Indians in 1763-64. This was the result of the 
conspiracy of Pontiac, an Ottawa chief. He had been an 
adherent of the French, and could not believe that they were 
defeated, but thought they would surely return. He suc- 
ceeded in inducing a number of tribes to make a grand effort 
to drive out the Englisli. With this object in view, a num- 
ber of posts were surprised, and garrisons were put to death. 
For a time it seemed as though there would be a renewal 
of the horrors of the old Indian wars. But the Indians did 
not agree among themselves, and peace was finally made in 
1766. Pontiac was assassinated by another Indian in 1769. 



I 



CHAPTER Y. 

THE ENGLISH COLONIES. 
REFERENCES. 

General. — G. Bancroft, History of the United States, iii. 50-482 ; iv. 
8-198 ; R. Hildreth, History of the United States, ii. 514-579 ; iii. 25-70 ; 
Bryant and Gay, Popular History of the United States, iii. 329-376 ; 
R. Frothingham, Rise of the Republic, pp. 158-401 ; J. M. Ludlow, The 
War of American Independence (Epoch Series), pp. 04-103; W. E. H. 
Lecky, History of England in the Eighteenth Century, iii. Chap. xii. (Amer- 
ican Edition) ; J. A, Doyle, History of the United States, Chaps, xvi., 
xvii. ; John Fiske, The War of Independence, pp. 39-87, and his The 
American Revolution ; W. M. Sloane, The French War and The Revolu- 
tion (American History Series), pp. 110-187 ; A. B. Hart, The Formation 
of the Union, pp. 42-08 ; Winsor, Narrative and Critical History of America, 
vi. Cliap. i.; E. Channing, The United States, Chaps, i., ii. 

Biographies. — American Statesmen Series : J. K. Hosmer, Samuel 
Adams ; J. T. Morse, Jr., John Adams ; M. C. Tyler, Patrick Henry ; H. C. 
Lodge, George Washington ; Woodrow Wilson, George Washington. 

Special. — For Navigation Acts: Benj. Rand, Economic History since 
1703 (New Edition), pp. 1-30 . For Stamp Act : American History Leaflets, 
No. 21 ; F. M. Etting, Independence Hall (2d Edition), pp. 47-02, Phila- 
delphia, 1891, interesting illustrations; B. J. Lossing, Field-Book of the 
Revolution, i. 400-474. For Tea Tax : Old South Leaflets, No. 08 ; B. J. 
Lossing, Field-Book of the Revolution, i. 490-499. 

83. English Policy. (1763-1765.) — The colonists now entered 
upon a new phase of their history, one which was to lead 
them into independence of the mother country. This was a 
conclusion few living at the middle of the eighteenth century 
could have anticipated. But it is now seen that such a result 

80 



ENGLISH POLICY; NAVIGATION ACTS. 81 

would inevitably follow the policy pursued by the English 
government. The first step was the claim which the crown 
made to the territory conquered from the French, particularly 
that west of the Atlantic settlements, which the colonists felt 
had been gained chiefly by their own efforts. 

Notwithstanding the wars, the colonies had kept on in- 
creasing in population and wealth. There were now thirteen 
of them, and their total population was about 2,000,000. 
Agriculture and commerce were flourishing, and even manu- 
factures were springing up in various places. England was 
encumbered with a large debt, the interest on which Avas a 
heavy burden. When the British Parliament saw that the 
colonists had raised so much money to carry on the late war, 
it naturally thought that the colonists should bear a part of 
the national burden. The Parliament laid the taxes upon the 
British people, and it thought it would lay taxes upon 
the Americans. But there was a great difference between the 
two cases. In England, law-makers were, or professed to be, 
elected by the people to represent them, and so the people 
had a voice in laying their own taxes; but the colonists 
were not represented in the British Parliament, and so if 
Parliament laid taxes upon the colonists there would* be 
'' taxation without representation," which was contrary to 
the custom and principles of the colonists. It was only in 
late years that the matter had assumed any importance, for 
the colonies had hitherto been so insignificant as to be out 
of practical consideration. 

84. Economic Views of the Eighteenth Century; Navigation 
Acts. — It is important to remember that in the eighteenth 
century very different views from those now accepted were 
held by the most liberal-minded men. It was thought 
essential to control and regulate trade in every way ; to close 



82 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

ports against all foreign shipping was deemed good policy ; 
and that colonies existed for the good of the mother country 
was an axiom of most governments. It was acknowledged 
even in the colonies that the king had power to veto bills of 
the colonial legislatures, and that Parliament had the right to 
regulate all foreign trade. 

As long ago as 1651, when England was under the Com- 
monwealth, the Navigation Acts had been passed. These 
laws, and others passed in 1660, 1663, and 1672, forbade 
trade with any country but England, or an English cololry, 
and required that all commerce should be carried on in 
either English or colonial vessels, thus shutting out all com- 
petition, and forcing all foreign goods to come through the 
English market and be subject to the English duties. But 
by 1663 so many ships had been built by the colonists, that 
to protect the British ship-builders, the colonists Avere for- 
bidden to import any goods except in British-built ships, un- 
less the ship had been built or bought before October, 1662. 

85. Restrictions upon Manufactures. (1699-1761.) — The 

colonial trade was also burdened with heavy restrictions. In 
William and Mary's reign there was still further interference 
in regard to the colonial manufactures which were beginning 
to be established. In this reign, or later, the exportation of 
hats, paper, leather, iron, and other articles was absolutely 
forbidden, and in some cases even their manufacture. It is 
true that these laws were frequently not enforced, and for 
many years the government officers either did not attempt 
to carr}^ them out, or were bribed to ignore them. But 
in 1761 a serious attempt was made to carry out the Navi- 
gation Acts, particularly in relation to illicit trade or smug- 
gling. Under this policy the old acts were enforced, and 
to do it the revenue officers were greatly increased in 



REPRESENTATION IN ENGLAND. 83 

number. They found that a great amount of smuggling was 
carried on, and to stop this and gain evidence concerning it, 
they applied to the courts for '' writs of assistance " to aid 
them in their search for smuggled goods. These writs were 
warrants permitting the revenue officers to search any house 
for goods, on suspicion only. They "governed all men, were 
returnable nowhere, gave the officers absolute power, and 
opened every man's house to their entrance." It was most 
natural that the colonists should look upon them as illegal. 
James Otis, a young, able, and eloquent lawyer, appeared 
before the Superior Court of Massachusetts as the people's 
advocate, and in the course of his argument used the now 
familiar phrase, " Taxation without representation is tyranny." 
The judges reserved their decision until they could learn the 
practice in England relative to the matter, and on finding 
that such writs were legal and were used in England, they 
were forced to affirm their legality in America. The question 
of legality, however, made no difference in respect to the 
feeling with which they were regarded. It does not appear 
that the officers ever dared to make use of the writs. 

♦ 
86. Representation in England. (1761.) — In considering 
the relations between England and the colonies, it must be 
remembered that the English government at this time was 
very corrupt, and bribery was recognized, even by the officers 
of state, as a regular means of securing legislation. The House 
of Commons no longer represented the English people, for in 
a population of about 8,000,000, there were less than 175,000 
voters. The election districts had not been changed for a 
very long time, large cities had grown up without any repre- 
sentation at all, and other districts represented a very small 
population. In one place. Old Sarum, three voters elected 
two members of Parliament. By this means many members of 



84 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Parliament were chosen according to the wish of those of the 
nobility who were large landlords, and controlled the votes 
of their tenants. As a matter of fact, for a good part of the 
eighteenth century the House of Commons was ruled by the 
House of Lords.i 

Notwithstanding that the British Parliament was so little 
of a representative body, it is likely that most of their measures 
relating to the colonies were fairly in accord with the com- 
mon sentiments of the people, for neither the people nor the 
Parliament understood the real state of affairs. 



87. Stamp Act. (1765.) — Injurious as the navigation laws 
(sect. 84) had been, the colonies did not dispute the right of 
Parliament to regulate foreign commerce, and in 1764, at the 
suggestion of George Grenville, then Prime Minister, an act 
was passed providing an additional taxation on commerce, in 
the way of increased duties and also in- 
creased restriction on trade. The news of 
this act was received with great disfavor 
in Massachusetts, which was the centre of 
trade in America, a^id unavailing remon- 
strances against the act were sent to Eng- 
land. In passing the celebrated Stamp Act 
in 1765, Parliament went still further. 
This was a measure designed to raise a 
revenue in the colonies. The act, passed 
early in the year, was to go into effect in 
the fall. Under its provisions every legal 
document, all marriage certificates, all news- 
papers and almanacs, were to bear a stamp 
before they could be issued, or, in the case of legal papers, be 

1 The great William Pitt entered Parliament (1735) as a member for Old 
Sarum, owing his election to the influence of the noble landowner of that 
district. 




A STAMP OF 1765. 



SONS OF LIBERTY; PATRICK HENRY. 85 

of any force. Such a law affected every one who wished to 
buy even a newspaper, for he was compelled to pay for the 
stamp as well as the paper. The value of the stamp varied, 
according to the circumstances, from one-half penny to twelve 
pounds. The stamps were not like the modern adhesive ones, 
but were impressions on the paper lika a magistrate's seal. 

88. Sons of Liberty ; Patrick Henry. (1765.) — There was 
little opposition to the passage of the act in Parliament, 
Colonel Isaac Barre making the only strong speech against it. 
In this speech he repudiated the idea that the colonists owed 
anything to Englisli" care, but claimed that her neglect had 
rather stimulated them. This speech, as well as others, gained 
him the admiration of the Americans, and they adopted as 
their own a phrase he used on another occasion, when he 
called them ''Sons of Liberty." But if the act attracted 
little opposition or notice in England, it was far other- 
wise in America. Remonstrances were forwarded to Eng- 
land, speeches were made against it, and all the colonial 
assemblies denied the right of Parliament thus to tax the 
colonies without their consent. In May, 1765, Patrick Henry, 
in the Virginia assembly, introduced a series of resolutions 
against the act, and in his speech supporting them said: 
"Tarquin and Caesar had each a Brutus; Charles I., his 
Cromwell ; and George the Third "... and he paused, when 
the Speaker shouted, " Treason," and the word was echoed 
from every part of the house, while Henry, with his eye fixed 
on the Speaker, closed the sentence, "may profit by their 
example. If this be treason, make the most of it." The 
resolutions were passed by a small majority. Associations 
called " Sons of Liberty " were formed all over the country 
to keep up the agitation ; when the stamped paper came over. 
It was seized and destroyed ; those who had accepted oftice 



86 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

as stamp distributors were forced to resign. So, when the 
time came for the act to go into operation, there were neither 
stamps nor officers. This strong resistance had not been anti- 
cipated by friends of America, perhaps not by many Ameri- 
cans. Though Benjamin Franklin had not approved of the 
act, yet he counselled submission, and even asked for the 
position of distributor for a friend; and Richard Henry Lee 
applied for such an office for himself. 

89. Stamp Act Congress. (1765.) — An important result 
of the Stamp Act in America was the occasion it gave 
for the coming together of the "Stamp Act Congress" in 
New York in October, 1765. The idea seems to have been 
suggested in Massachusetts, Virginia, and South Carolina 
about the same time. To this congress, all the colonies 
except New Hampshire, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia 
sent delegates. Though not represented, these colonies were 
in sympathy with the movement. This congress discussed 
the state of affairs, issued addresses to the king and Parlia- 
ment, and also a declaration of rights. The ability of these 
papers is remarkable, and the language in which the posi- 
tion of the colonists is set forth admits of no doubtful inter- 
pretation. But, while declaring that the Parliament had no 
right to tax the colonies without their consent, there was no 
sentiment of disloyalty to the crown expressed. 

90. Repeal of the Stamp Act. (1766.) — On receipt of the 
news of the failure of the Stamp Act in America, the English 
government was much surprised ; they were also petitioned by 
English merchants, who were suffering an alarming diminu- 
tion in their trade, to repeal the law ; for the determina- 
tion not to obey the act had been followed by an agreement 
not to use any English goods. Franklin, too, who had been 



REAL OBJECT OF TAXATION. 87 

summoned before the House of Commons to give his opinion 
on the state of affairs in America, had told them that the 
Americans would never submit. William Pitt, in the House 
of Commons, said, "I rejoice that America has resisted"; but 
he also said, " I assert the authority of this kingdom over ,the 
colonists to be sovereign and supreme in every circumstance 
of government and legislation whatever. . . . Taxation is no 
part of the legislative or governing power. Taxes are a 
voluntary gift and grant of the Commons alone." Moved by 
all these things, Parliament, in 1766, repealed the Stamp Act, 
but at the same time passed a Declaratory Act, setting forth 
that '' the crown, with the advice and consent of Parliament," 
"had, hath, and of right ought to have, full power and 
authority to make laws and statutes of sufficient force and 
validity to bind the colonies and peoples of America, subjects 
of the crown of Great Britain in all cases whatever." 

91. Real Object of the Taxation. (1766.) — In their joy at 
the repeal of the obnoxious measure, the colonists at first 
overlooked the Declaratory Act. But besides this, England 
had no notion of letting them alone ; England was burdened 
with debt, she had spent much for the colonies, and was de- 
termined to make them bear their share of the expense. It is 
important to remember that the object of this taxation was 
not to help pay the expenses of the government at home, 
nor was it to help pay the interest on the debt, but all the 
expected revenue was to be spent in or for the colonies them- 
selves. There were two main sources of expense in the 
colonies ; first, that for the defence of the frontier against the 
Indians, including building of forts and maintaining them, 
as well as some other matters ; secondly, the salaries of the 
colonial governors, and other necessary outlays of a similar 
character. 



88 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

92. Objections of the Colonists. (1766.) — The need of these 
expenses could hardly be questioned by the colonists. The 
grounds of their objection were that the money was raised 
Avithout their consent, and that the taxes were laid by a body 
in which they had no representation. Such things, they 
claimed, were infringements upon their fundamental rights 
as Englishmen. Besides, they feared that if they should give 
up this point, there would be nothing to prevent tyrannical 
government, and that they would also soon have to contribute 
to the general expenses of the empire. 

In 1765 an act had also been passed requiring the colonists 
to support troops which might be quartered among them ; 
this was known as the Quartering Act. Massachusetts 
refused to obey this, and so did New York. Aside from the 
vexed matter of taxation, this act aimed to make them pay 
for means used to enforce what they already deemed illegal 
and tyrannous; it was therefore doubly repulsive. 

93. Political Condition of the Colonies. (1765.) — The thirteen 
colonies had much that was similar in their positions, but 
while they had many common interests, there were striking 
differences among them. In their political condition there 
were three forms of government : (1) Royal ; Massachusetts 
(sect. 57), New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Vir- 
ginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. (2) 
Charter ; Rhode Island and Connecticut. (3) Proprietary ; 
Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. In all of these there 
were assemblies or legislatures chosen by the people, which 
made their local laws and provided for raising the taxes. In 
the two charter governments the relation to England was 
little more than nominal. In the proprietary, the proprietor 
took the place of the king, and the relation to him was also 
little more than nominal. In the royal, the governor was 



DOMESTIC LIFE AND MANNERS. 89 

appointed by the crown, and the colonists were subjected to 
rather more' restrictions than under the other two systems; 
but all the colonies were really more or less independent of 
the mother country in everything except foreign affairs, 
which, by almost universal consent, up to 1765, belonged to 
the imperial government. 

94. Domestic Life and Manners. (1765.) — In domestic life 
and manners there was really more difference than in political 
matters. The New England colonies still retained many 
Puritan ideas and customs. There was but little distinction 
of rank at that time, and wealth was more equally distributed 
than elsewhere in the colonies. 

In New York and New Jersey the Dutch influence was 
still to be seen. The patroons along the Hudson River kept 
up a style in proportion to their large estates, while the city 
of New York had already become a commercial centre, though 
inferior to either Philadelphia or Boston in population. Penn- 
sylvania was perhaps the thriftiest of the colonies, and was 
one of the most conservative. Philadelphia was the largest 
city in the colonies, and at this time the most handsomely 
built ; its regular streets, public squares, and well paved side- 
walks were the admiration of visitors and the pride of the 
citizens. Its population was the largest in the colonies, being 
25,000, that of Boston being slightly less. The northern part 
of Maryland resembled Pennsylvania and Delaware, but the 
southern part was like Virginia and the Carolinas. Here 
there were few towns and villages ; the planter lived upon 
his plantation, frequently several miles away from his next 
white neighbor. He was surrounded by his slaves, who per- 
formed all the manual labor, for he considered manual labor 
fit only for slaves. Tobacco was the chief crop, for cotton 
had not yet been made profitable by the invention of the 



90 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

cotton-gin. Not a few of the planters sent their sons abroad 
to be educated, but all except the richer class were much 
behind the middle and northern colonies in education. But 
Avhatever their condition, all were accustomed to local self- 
government, and were a unit on the question of taxation 
without representation ; but the idea of independence of Great 
Britain was hardly dreamed of, except by a few enthusiasts, 
who were considered as fanatics. 

95. The Townshend Acts. (1767.) — If Parliament had re- 
pealed the Stamp Act, it was only because its continuance, as 
was declared in the repealing act, " would be attended with 
many inconveniences, and detrimental to the commercial in- 
terests of the kingdom." The government was determined 
to get a revenue out of the colonies and in its own way. An 
act was passed, forbidding all trade with certain West India 
islands. This had been very })rofitable, and the jJi'ohibition 
was not only a cause of irritation, but also of heavy losses, 
especially in Massachusetts. Two acts known, from their 
author, Charles Townshend, as the " Townshend Acts," passed 
in 1767, provided for the better carrying out of the laws of 
trade, and for laying duties on glass, paper, colors, teas, and 
also legalized " writs of assistance." The revenue raised 
was to be used in defraying the expenses of colonial govern- 
ment and for the defences of the colonies. The New York 
Assembly was ordered to be suspended until it should vote 
supplies for the troops which had been sent over, which it 
had refused to do. The question of submission or not was 
now clearly before the colonists ; there was no putting it off 
nor evading it. 

96. The " Farmer's Letters." (1767.) — The acts passed in 
the summer were not to ofo into force until the late fall. 



RESISTANCE IN THE COLONIES. 91 

and so there was plenty of time to consider what should be 
done. As in the case of the Stamp Act, resolutions of non- 
importation were agreed upon, and the effort was made to 
encourage home manufactures. This system of "boycott" 
was warmly upheld, even by conservative men. The action 
of the colonists was greatly influenced by the publication and 
circulation of a series of " Letters from a farmer of Penn- 
sylvania," in which the whole situation was clearly, forcibly, 
and calmly reviewed. This "farmer" was John Dickinson, 
of Pennsylvania, a young man of wealth and education and 
of unusual abilities. In these letters he expressed what the 
most thoughtful men of all classes believed, when he said : 
" Let these truths be indelibly impressed upon the minds : 
that we cannot be happy without being free ; that we cannot 
be free without being secure in our property ; that we cannot 
be secure in our property if, without our consent, others may, 
as by right, take it away ; that taxes imposed upon us by 
Parliament do thus take it away ; that duties laid for the 
sole purpose of raising money are taxes ; that attempts to lay 
such duties should be instantly and firmly opposed : that this 
opposition can never be effectual unless it be the united 
effort of these provinces." On these principles the sub- 
sequent conduct of the colonies was largely based. 

97. Continued Resistance in the Colonies. (1767-1770.) — 
The resistance to the obnoxious acts was mostly the peacea- 
ble refusal to use imported goods, Avliich, notwithstanding 
failures here and there, was very generally observed ; so much 
so that the exports from England between 1707 and 1769 
declined ; of those sent to New England, more than one-half ; 
while to New York, they were not more than one-sixth of 
their former amount. But the presence of officers and troops 
in America made it almost impossible that collisions should 



92 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



not occur, and in New York, North Carolina, and most of all 
in Massachusetts, there were riots. In 1768 a sloop belonging 
to John Hancock, a wealthy citizen of Boston, was seized for 
violation of the revenue laws, and the revenue commissioners 
were forced to take refuge on a ship of war in the harbor. 
This led to the quartering of troops in Boston itself, and in 
1770 a collision between the troops and the citizens, known 
as the " Boston Massacre," took place. In this case the 




JOHN HANCOCK'S HOUSE. 



troops seemed to have fired only in self-defence ; and at the 
trial, in which Jolm Adams was one of their counsel, they 
were acquitted of the charge of murder. In 1772 a party of 
colonists seized and burnt the G-aspee^ a revenue vessel, in 
Narragansett Bay. All these things showed the temper of 
the people, and should have been a warning to the Englisli 
government to proceed with caution in their treatment of 
such independent subjects. But the ministry seem to have 
been entirely ignorant of the real character of those with 
whom they had to deal. It is likely that they may have 



REMOVAL OF TAXES. 93 

been somewhat misled by the petitions of the colonists, which 
expressed loyalty to the king and an affection for his person, 
even while refusing obedience to what they believed were 
illegal exactions. They were misled also by letters from 
royal officers. 

98. Removal of Taxes, except on Tea. (1770.) — William 
Pitt, now become Earl of Chatham, was prevented by ill 
health from taking any part in political matters ; Townshend, 
the author of the acts bearing his name, had died, and Lord 
North, a young man, was now appointed Prime Minister. 
Moved by the impossibility of enforcing the acts in America, 
and also by the petitions of the British merchants whose 
trade was suffering so much, he resolved upon a partial 
change of policy. Accordingly, in 1770, all the taxes on im- 
ports, except upon tea, were removed. Owing to the refusal 
of the Americans to use tea coming from England, the East 
India Company, which iield the monopoly of the importation 
of that commodity, had an enormous stock on hand in Eng- 
land, and the affairs of the company were in confusion, 
partly caused by the loss of the American trade. In order 
to improve this state of affairs, it was provided (1773) that 
tea might be exported to America by the company, dut}^ free, 
in England. Thus, the American import duty being three 
pence per pound, the Americans, who had previously paid 
five pence duty, actually got their tea at a lower price than 
before, or even than Englishmen. But with the colonists it 
was not a question of price, but of principle ; and so the non- 
importation agreement was continued in respect to tea, and 
the Americans smuggled the article from Holland. Not 
receiving orders for tea, the company resolved to send out 
cargoes to different ports, hoping that when the invoices 
arrived they would be disposed of. But when the vessels 



94 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

arrived at Boston, it was not allowed to be brought on shore, 
and the ships were ordered back to England. But the 
Governor and British officials refused to allow the vessels to 
sail. On this, a party of reputable citizens, disguised as 
Indians, went on board the ships, took the chests out of the 
hold of the vessels, and breaking them open, emptied the tea 
into the harbor. The " Boston Tea Party " took place 
December 1(3, 1773. At Charleston, the tea was stored in 
damp cellars, where it soon spoiled. At Annapolis the tea 
was burned ; at Philadelphia and New York, as well as at other 
places, the ships with the tea were ordered back to England. 

99. The Five Intolerable Acts of Parliament. (1774.) — When 
the news of these things reached England, the ministers Avere 
naturally very angry, and Parliament resolved to punish the 
rebellious colonies ; and to do this they passed five acts aimed 
directly against them. The first was the Boston Port Bill ; by 
this all commerce with the city was fq^'bidden, no ships being 
allowed to come in or go out. This was of course to punish 
the Boston people for their resistance to Parliament. The 
second was the Transportation Bill ; this allowed persons who 
might commit murder in resisting the law to be transported 
to the other colonies or to Great Britain for trial. The 
third was the Massachusetts Bill ; this practically revoked 
the charter, in taking away from the Assembly all power of 
appointment, and vesting it in the governor, in whom the 
power of removal was also vested. No public meetings, 
except for the election of representatives and petty officers, 
could be held, unless by permission of the governor. These 
three acts were specially directed against Massachusetts, and 
she suffered much from them ; but the effect on the other 
colonies was great, for they did not know when their turn 
might come, and they encouraged Massachusetts to continue 



COMMITTEES OF CORRESFONDENCE. 95 

steadfast, sliowing tlieir sympathy by gifts of money and sup- 
plies. The fourth act was the bill legalizing the quartering 
of troops in America. The fifth act was the Quebec Act ; 
this, while professing to reorganize the government of Canada, 
reall}^ injured the colonies, for it extended the limits of 
Canada so as to include the territory west of the Alleghanies. 
This territory, the colonists felt, had been conquered from the 
French largely by their efforts, and rightly belonged to them. 
So this also tended to make the colonies feel they had a com- 
mon cause. Though Burke, Barre, and Chatham opposed 
these bills, they Avere passed by large majorities in Parlia- 
ment.^ 

Royal instructions or special directions sent to the colonial 
governors from the ministry, independent of Parliament, Avere 
also used, and helped to increase the feeling against the 
British government. 

100. Committees of Correspondence. (1772.) — In 1772 Samuel 
Adams, of Massachusetts, at a town meeting in Faneuil Hall, 
Boston, moved that committees of correspondence should be 
appointed in the different towns throughout the province, "to 
state the rights of the colonies, and of this province in par- 
ticular ; to communicate and publish the same to the several 
towns in this province and to the world." This was done, 
and in the next year Virginia proposed that committees of 
correspondence should be appointed throughout all the 
colonies in order to produce unity of action. The proposition 
was accepted, and committees were soon appointed in six of 
the colonies, and later in the others. 

101. Virginia proposes a General Congress. (1774.) — In June, 
1774, the Virginia House of Burgesses protested against the 

1 It was during the debates on the American question that public reports of 
Parliamentary proceedings were first allowed. 



96 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Boston Bill, and a23pointed the day on which it was to go into 
effect as a day of fasting; they also implored "the Divine 
interposition " to give them " one heart and one mind firmly 
to oppose, by all just and proper means, every injury to Ameri- 
can rights." On this,, the governor immediately dissolved 
the house. But the members held a meeting, at which they 
resolved that an attack on one of the colonies was an attack 
upon all, and that the committee of correspondence should 
consult the other committees on the expediency of holding a 
general congress. This measure was approved by all the 
colonies, and, at the request of New York, Massachusetts 
appointed Philadelphia as the place of meeting, and September 
1, 1774, as the time. Delegates were appointed in all the 
colonies except Georgia, where the governor prevented the 
assembly from choosing them. While the delegates were 
being chosen, news was received of the passage of the acts 
immediately succeeding the passage of the Boston Port Bill, 
which have already been described. It excited the liveliest 
apprehension, and resolutions stamping these measures as 
"unconstitutional, oppressive, and dangerous to the American 
colonies" were passed in Pennsylvania; in Virginia, at a 
meeting of citizens over which George Washington presided, 
similar ones were passed ; also one stating that they " would 
religiously maintain and inviolably adhere to such measures 
as should be concerted by the general congress for the pres- 
ervation of their lives, liberties, and fortunes." Similar 
meetings were held all through the country, and it is a 
noticeable fact that there was a general agreement before- 
hand to abide by tlie decisions of the congress. 

102. The First Continental Congress. (1774.) — The con- 
gress known as the first Continental (general) Congress, met 
September 5, 1774, at Philadelphia, in Carpenter's Hall, a 



THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 



97 



building still (1893) in good preservation. There were fifty- 
five delegates present, and every colony except Georgia was 
represented. It was a very able body, the colonies having 
sent their best men ; George Washington, Patrick Henry, and 
Richard Henry Lee, from Virginia, Samuel Adams and John 
Adams, from Massachusetts, John Rutledge and Christopher 
Gadsden, from South Carolina, and John Jay, from New York, 
were among the number. These delegates were chosen in 
various ways ; some by committees, some by the assemblies, 
others by conventions, but all claiming to represent the 
colonies. The congress acted cautiously, but, while pro- 
fessing loyalty to the king, 
issued an address to the 
people of the colonies; one 
to the Canadians ; one to 
the people of Great Brit- 
ain ; and one to the king. 
A declaration of rights was 
also drawn up, and an 
agreement not to import, 
export, or use British 
goods. In the declaration 
the various objectionable 
acts of the British govern- 
ment were specified, and 
it declared that, if force 
were used to compel the 
people of Massachusetts to 
obey, "all America ought 

to support them in their opposition." After providing for 
another congress to meet on the 10th of the following May, 
the congress adjourned, October 26. 




CARPENTER'S HALL, 1774. 



98 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

103. Whigs and Tories ; Resistance. (1775.) — Before this 
time two distinct parties had arisen in the country, the one 
called Tory, upholding the power of the British government, 
or at least disapproving of resistance to its regulations ; the 
other called Whig, approving of resistance by force, if need- 
ful. The names were used in America from 1764, and were 
taken from British politics, the. word Tory representing the 
present Conservatives, and Whig, the Liberals, in England. 

During the time the congress was in session, the people of 
the colonies Avere collecting arms for use in case of necessity, 
and this was done most of all in Massachusetts. Her charter 
government had been overthrown by the governor, and she 
was really governed by what was called the Provincial Con- 
gress. By the order of this body, arms and ammunition had 
been collected at various points, and 20,000 " minute-men " 
enrolled, to be ready at a minute's notice, hence their 
name. General Gage, the royal governor and the comman- 
der of the British forces in the colonies, hearing of these pro- 
ceedings, began to fortify Boston on the land side. Finding 
out that there was a considerable amount of gunpowder and 
military stores at Concord, about twenty miles from Boston, 
he determined to seize it. He had also been ordered by the 
British government to arrest Samuel Adams and John Han- 
cock, and send them to England to be tried for treason. 
They were now at Lexington. 

104. Lexington and Concord. (1775.) — Though Gage's 
preparations had been jnade with great secrecy they were 
discovered, and Dr. Joseph Warren, a leading patriot in 
Boston, sent Paul Revere to warn Adams and Hancock of 
their danger. 

It had already been agreed, that if British troops should 
start by land, one lantern should be hung from the steeple 



LEXINGTON AND CONCORD. 99 

of the old North Church in Boston, but if by water, two 
lanterns should be shown. Paul Revere left at ten in the 
evening; he was rowed over the diaries River, and when 
he landed, he saw two lights flashing across the water. 
A strong horse was waiting for him ; he sprang into the sad- 
dle and galloped off. As he dashed along he roused the 
" minute-men " all the way to Lexington, where Adams and 
Hancock were, and then hastened on towards Concord. When 
told by some one that he was making too much noise, he 
replied, '' You'll have noise enough here before long ; the 
regulars are coming out! " They were indeed close behind 
the rider, but before these 800 British troops reached Lex- 
ington, early in the morning of April 19, 1775, they found 
the "minute-men" waiting for them. On their refusal to 
disperse at the order of the British commander, they were 
lired upon and returned the fire. When Concord was 
reached, only part of the arms and ammunition was found, 
but this was destroyed. On the return march to Boston, 
the British troops were exposed to a galling fire from behind 
rocks, walls, fences, and houses. The retreat soon became a 
rout, until the British were reinforced by other troops from 
Boston; but the fire of the minute-men Avas kejDt up until 
the troops were under cover of the guns of the warships in 
the harbor. In this, the first skirmish of the war, known 
as the Battle of Lexington, the loss of the minute-men was 
about 100, that of the British nearly three times as many. At 
once the Assembly of Massachusetts declared General Gage 
'' ought to be considered and guarded against as an unnatural 
and inveterate foe to tlie country." Thousands of minute- 
men hastened to Boston, and it was soon in a state of siege. 
A month after this, Ethan Allen, a colonel of the Vermont 
militia, or the " Green Mountain Boys," surprised Ticonderoga 
and captured it. War had begun. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE REVOLUTION. 
REFERENCES. 

General. — Winsor's Narrative and Critical History of America, vi., vii., 
Cliaps. i., ii. ; Winsor's Reader's Handbook of the American Revolution, 
"a continuous foot-note to all histories of the American Revolution"; 
G. Bancroft, History of the United States, vols, iv., v. ; R. Hildreth, History 
of the United States, iii. 69-429 ; Bryant and Gay, Popular History of the 
United States, iii. 377-623 ; iv. 1-74 ; T. W. Higginson, Larger History of 
the United States, pp. 241-292 ; John Fiske, The American Revolution, 2 
vols., his War of Independence is a brief presentation of the same sub- 
ject ; E. Channing, The United States, Chap. iii. ; A. B. Hart, Forma- 
tion of the Union (Epochs of American History), Chaps, iii., iv. ; W. M. 
Sloane, The French War and the Revolution (American History Series), 
Chaps, xv.-xxviii. ; J. M. Ludlow, The War of American Independence 
(Epoch Series), Chaps, v.-viii. ; J. A. Doyle, History of the United States, 
Chaps, xviii., xix. ; J. R. Green, Short History of the English People, 
Chap. X., sect. ii. ; S. R. Gardiner, Student's History of England, Chap, xlix. ; 
W. E. H. Lecky, History of England in the Eighteenth Century, iv.. Chap, 
iv. ; G. W. Greene, Historical View of the American Revolution ; R. Froth- 
ingham. Rise of the Republic, pp. 403-582 ; B. J. Lossing, Field-Book of 
the Revolution. For reprints of contemporary papers, etc., see Winsor, vol. 
vi., and Niles's Principles and Acts of the Revolution. 

Biographies. — American Statesmen Series, Lives of Washington, Frank- 
lin, J, Adams, S. Adams, Hamilton, Jay, Madison, Monroe, Gouverneur 
Morris, Patrick Henry, Jefferson ; and in Makers of America Series, Lives 
of Hamilton, Jefferson, Robert Morris; F. V. Greene, Nathaniel Greene. 

Special. — For Mecklenburg Resolutions : J. C. Welling, North American 
Review, April, 1874, Magazine of American History, xxi. 221-233 (very full); 
B. J. Lossing, Field-Book of the Revolution, ii. 619 (Resolutions given in 
full) ; Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, vi, 256 ; R. Frothingham, Rise 

100 



SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 101 

of the Republic, pp. 422-424 ; C. M. Wilcox, Magazine of American History, 
xxi. 31-45 ; W. A. Grahame, Historical Address on the Mecklenburg Centen- 
nial. For Declaration of Independence : For document, see Appendix to 
tliis volume ; a fac-simile of Jefferson's Draft is in Randall's Life of Jeffer- 
son ; F. M. Etting, Independence Hall, pp. 91-106, fac-simile of engraved 
copy as signed. For the West : T. Roosevelt, The Winning of the West, vols. 
i., ii. ; B. A. Hinsdale, The Old Northwest, pp. 120-191 ; Witisor, Narrative 
and Critical History, vi., Chap. ix. For Arnold's Treason: B. J. Lossing, 
The Two Spies ; W. Sargent, Life of Major Andre ; AVinsor's Narrative and 
Critical History, vi. 447-468. Yorktow^n : J. Fiske, Critical Period of 
American History, pp. 1-48 ; H. P. Johnston, Yorktown Campaign. Peace 
of 1783 : Winsor's Narrative and Critical History, vii., Chap. ii. 

105. Second Continental Congress ; Washing-ton Commander-in- 
Chief. (1775.) — The first congress had done nothing but 
deliberate, and issue documents ; now the time for action had 
arrived. The second Continental Congress met May 10, 1775, 
the day of the taking of Ticonderoga. It instantly resolved 
to take up the quarrel of Massachusetts as the quarrel of the 
colonies; it accepted the army of minute-men around Boston 
as the Continental army, and at the suggestion of John Adams, 
appointed one of the delegates, George Washington, of Vir- 
ginia, as commander-in-chief, and provided for the expenses 
by issuing $2,000,000 in paper money. Washington was 
already known throughout the colonies as a successful mili- 
taiy man, from his part in the French and Indian War ; he 
had been fifteen years a member of the Virginia House of 
Burgesses, and had been a member of the first Continental 
Congress, where he had made a great impression by his 
"solid information and sound sense." He was forty-three 
years old, and in the very prime of his powers. On his 
acceptance of the position of commander, he refused any pay 
for his services, though reserving the right to be paid for his 
expenses. At the close of the war he presented his account, 
neatly kept, written in his own handwriting. This document 
may still be seen. 



102 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

106. Bunker Hill. (1775.)— Before Washington could 
reach Boston, another encounter had taken place. General 
Artemas Ward, the commander of the Massachusetts forces, 
learning" that General Gage intended to fortify Bunker Hill 
in Charlestown, across the Charles River from Boston, sent 
a detachment of troops under Colonel William Prescott, on 
the evening of June 16, to occupy it and throw up entrench- 
ments. The hill beyond, Breed's Hill, was chosen instead, 
and by morning the astonished British saw the lines of re- 
doubts on the hill before them. At once 3000 British troops 
were sent across the river to dislodge the Americans. Twice 
were the J>ritish repulsed, with heavy loss ; their third 
assault was successful, for the Americans were compelled to 
retreat because their ammunition had given out. The loss 
on each side was very heavy. Among the killed on the 
American side was General Joseph Warren, who was one of 
the ablest men in the country. The battle of Bunker Hill 
confirmed the colonists in the course they had taken. Wash- 
ington reached the headquarters of the army at Cambridge 
and assumed command July 3, 1775. 

107. Boston evacuated; Canada. (1776.) — His difficulties 
were very great ; there was hardly any ammunition ; the men, 
unused to military life, were already getting sick of tlie hard- 
ships they had to endure ; they did not like the strict disci- 
pline of the camp ; and they were enlisted only for short 
periods ; so when Washington reached the army, he found it 
fully one-third smaller than it had been. In spite of these 
difficulties, he maintained the siege of Boston successfully. 
Early in JNIarch, 1776, having drilled the army, and thinking- 
it time to make an active demonstration, he seized Dorchester 
Heights, to the south of the city, and fortified them before 
the British could prevent him. The British, fearing to attack 



THE KING AND THE COLONISTS. 103 

these entrenchments, resolved to evacuate the city, which was 
done March 17, 1776. The Americans were thus successful 
in compelling the British to leave Massachusetts. 

In the hope of getting the Canadians to join them, the col- 
onists sent an expedition to capture the British strongholds 
in Canada. They were successful in taking Montreal, but an 
attack upon Quebec was a total failure, and as the Americans 
were then driven out of Canada, the expedition did no good. 
Canada never helped the colonists. This was mainly due 
to three causes : first, the English population was small ; 
secondly, by the Quebec Act, the French had been confirmed 
in many of their old rights and privileges and had no cause 
for grievance ; and thirdly, Canada was separated from the 
other colonies by forests almost impenetrable, except in a few 
places where there were natural passageways. 

108. The King and the Colonists. (1776.) — Meanwhile, Par- 
liament had met in England, and George III. had already 
refused to hear or even to receive the petition sent to him by 
the second congress, but instead had issued a proclamation 
against rebellion and sedition. Parliament responded to the 
king by authorizing him to send forces to America and to 
hire troops of Hanover, Brunswick, and Hesse Cassel. Trade 
was prohibited with certain of the colonies, a prohibition 
afterwards extended to all. There was now presented the 
curious spectacle of a congress fighting against the armies of 
the king, and exercising many of the prerogatives of an in- 
dependent government, and yet protesting that it had no 
wish for independence. But it is almost impossible to fight 
against a man and yet not wish to escape from his rule, and 
there were many who saw the inevitable result before the 
congress did. The Declaration of Independence was the 
necessary conclusion of the acts of the congress in allowing 




104 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the colonies to form their own governments, authorizing 
British war vessels or transports to be captured, opening the 

ports of the colonies to all nations, 
forbidding the slave trade, and ap- 
23ointing Franklin, Jay, and others 
to maintain intercourse with the 
"friends of the colonies in Great 
Britain and elsewhere." On the 1st 
of January, 1776, a new flag had 

COLONIAL FLAG, 1776. i T^ ' 2. 1 • £ j. £ Tt i. 

been hoisted m front oi Boston as 
the ensign of the united colonies, having, in addition to 
the British union, thirteen alternate stripes of red and white.^ 

109. Origin of the States. — In October, 1775, New Hamp- 
shire petitioned the Continental Congress to be allowed to 
set up a government of its own, and in November the people 
of that colony were advised to "establish such a form of 
government as in their judgment will best promote the hap- 
piness of the people, and most effectually secure peace and 
good order in the province." South Carolina and Virginia 
received similar advice. Rhode Island, by act of her legis- 
lature, relieved her citizens from allegiance to the king. 
In Virginia and some other of the colonies, the royal gov- 
ernors fled. So that, one after another, the several colonies, 
either by advice of Congress or by their own action, set up 

1 The British union of two crosses indicated allegiance to the king. June 
14, 1777, this union was changed to a blue field with thirteen stars. This 
flag was probably first unfurled August 3, 1777, at Fort Schuyler (now 
Rome), New York. The first battle in which it was used was probably the 
Battle of Brandywine, September 11, 1777. In 1705, two stars and two 
stripes were added for Kentucky and Vermont, but it was seen that the 
addition of a stripe for each new state would make a very ill-proportioned 
banner, and so, in 1818, the number of the stripes was reduced to thirteen, 
with the provision that a new star should be added for every new state 
admitted. This is done on the 4tli of July succeeding its admission. 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 105 

governments of their own. It needed little change to turn 
the colonial governments into states, little more in fact than 
to take from the crown the choice of the governor and give it 
to the people or to the legislatures ; in Rhode Island and 
Connecticut no change was needed except to cease giving 
allegiance to the king. Such was the origin of the states. 

110. Feeling in North Carolina and Virginia. (1775-1776.) 

— One of the earliest formal revolts against the British 
authority took place at Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, 
North Carolina, May 31, 1775. On that day the committee 
of the county met and passed a series of resolutions, the most 
important of which declared that all commissions, civil and 
military, granted by the crown to be exercised in the colonies 
were null and void ; and that the Provincial Congress of each 
province, under the direction of the great Continental Con- 
gress, was invested with all legislative and executive powers. 
A set of rules was drawn up, to be followed until the con- 
gress should provide laws, or the legislative body of Great 
Britain '* resign its unjust and arbitrary pretensions with 
respect to America." In April, 1776, North Carolina " em- 
powered her delegates in the Continental Congress to concur 
with the delegates of the other colonies in declaring for inde- 
pendency," being " the first in America to vote an explicit 
sanction to independence." In Virginia, a convention in May 
instructed the delegates of that colony in Congress " to pro- 
pose to that respectable body, to declare the United Colonies 
free and independent states." 

111. Declaration of Independence. (1776.) — On Thursday, 
June 7th, Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, introduced a 
resolution in the congress reciting " that these United Colo- 
nies are and of right ought to be free and independent 



106 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

states, that they are absolved from aU aUegiance to the 
British crown, and that all political connection between them 
and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dis- 
solved." This was seconded by John Adams. Other resolu- 
tions looking toward foreign alliances, and towards a "plan for 
confederation " for the colonies, were also introduced. The 
consideration of the first resolution was, after some debate, 
postponed for a few weeks. This gave time for the delegates 
to find out the views of their constituents, and for the peo- 
ple to give expression to their wishes. By the end of June, 
twelve of the colonies had in one way 
or another given voice to the wish for 
independence. On the 1st of July the 
debate was begun, and on the 2d, the 
resolution was carried ; on the 4th, 
the Declaration of Independence was 
adopted by the congress. It was a 
curious coincidence that the bell which 
was rung on the 8th of July in cele- 
bration of the measure bore the 
words, " Proclaim liberty throuQfhout 

LIBERTY BELL. '' y 

all the land unto all the inhabitants 
thereof" (Leviticus xxv. 10). The building in which the 
congress sat received the name of Independence Hall, and 
the room has been restored as nearly as possible to the 
condition in which it was at the passage of the Declara- 
tion. The bell, since cracked (sect. 241), is still kept in the 
building. During the debate a committee of five, of which 
Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were members, 
was intrusted with the duty of preparing a statement of 
grievances, and of the resolves of the congress. The well- 
known document (see Appendix ii.), which was adopted with 
but slight alteration, was, with a few trifling exceptions, the 




DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 



107 




INDEPENDENCE HALL, 1776. 



work of Thomas Jefferson. The action of the congress and 
the reacUng of the Declaration were not received with such 
universal rejoicing as might have been expected. The fact 
was, that, except in the middle 
colonies, the people had gone 
faster than the congress, which 
simply had recorded the desires 
of the people when it issued 
the Declaration. The original 
copy of the Declaration was 
signed by John Hancock, the 
president of the congress, and 
by Charles Thomson, its sec- 
retary. The official copy on 
parchment, which is the one 
preserved at Washington, was 
signed by most of the members on the 2d of the following 
August, though others signed still later ; one of the signers 
not being a member when the vote was taken. While the 




CHARLES THOMSON. 



108 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

signing was going on, John Hancock is reported to have said, 
" We must be unanimous ; there must be no pulling different 
ways ; we must hang together." " Yes," said Franklin, who 
was standing by, '' we must all hang together, or else we all 
shall hang separately." 

112. British Plans of Attack. (1776.) — The British had 
left New England (sect. 107), but they had no intention of 
giving it up. They had come to the conclusion that there 
was to be a struggle, and were laying their plans to bring it 
to an end as speedily as possible. The middle colonies 
offered the most attractive field for attack. The ^Dopulation 
was less eager for independence than that of New England, 
and much miglit be hoped from the loyalists botli in the way 
of direct aid and of influence. By this action, also, the colo- 
nies could be divided, and as they had no navy, it might be 
effectual in separating the southern and northern colonies. 
Moreover, the Hudson River, for a long distance, controlled 
the important route to Canada, besides forming a dividing 
line between New England and the rest of the country. 
Transferring the seat of war to the centre was a wise act on 
the part of Great Britain. In June an army, under General 
Howe, came from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and landing on 
Staten Island, began the campaign early in July. 

113. Washington at New York. (1776.) — Washington had 
already occupied New Y^ork. He had about 20,000 troops, 
but they were ill prepared to meet the British regulars ; 
their arms were poor, and they had little experience of real 
war or even of military drill. General Howe was soon rein- 
forced by the arrival of his brother, admiral of the fleet. 
Lord Howe. Before beginning hostilities, a proclamation 
was issued offering pardon to all who should swear allegiance 



I 



NEW YOKK CAMPAIGN. 109 

to the king. The brothers Howe were instructed to en- 
deavor to make peace, if possible, but it was hard for them to 
know with whom to treat ; if they approached Congress, the 
action involved recognition of that body, a thing which the 
British government on no account wished ; and when they 
had tried to open communication with the American general, 
they addressed him as " George Washington, Esq.," or 
" George Washington, etc., etc., etc." But he would receive 
no communication that did not recognize him as the com- 
mander of the American armies. As all the terms of the 
British were based on submission, nothing could have come 
of the negotiation, for the time for this had passed. 

114. New York Campaign. (1776.) — Meantime the British 
army had been receiving additions, and their forces amounted 
to about 30,000 men. Washington had been fortifying his 
position as much as possible. He held possession of Long 
Island, and from the heights of Brooklyn commanded the city 
of New York. The division of the American army which, 
under General Putnam, held this important post, was attacked 
by a strong force of British and was defeated. With great 
skill Washington brought his troops over to the mainland, 
but New York had to be evacuated. An informal conference 
was held between Lord Howe, and Franklin, Rutledge, and 
John Adams ; but it was of no avail. The war must go on. 
After the evacuation of New York, Washington held the 
highlands to the north of the city, thus cutting off any com- 
munication with Canada; in order to be ready to defend 
Philadelphia, he crossed the Hudson, leaving a large garrison 
in Fort Washington on the east bank of the river. This fort 
he had the mortification of seeing surrendered to the British, 
though after a brave defence. Cornwallis, one of Howe's 
generals, soon crossed the Hudson to attack Washington, who 



110 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

now, having only about 3000 men, was compelled to retreat 
slowly before him and even to cross the Delaware River. This 
was late in December. Congress, in the general gloom, had 
given Washington enlarged powers, and hastily leaving Phila- 
delphia had gone to Baltimore. Everj^where murmurs Avere 
heard, the Pennsylvania militia refused to turn out, and many 
persons through New Jersey were placing themselves under 
the protection of the British. After crossing the Delaware, 
the small force of Americans was increased to about 6000 
men. 

115. Trenton; Newport. (1776-1777.) — The British fol- 
lowed Washington, and were in possession of all the central 
part of New Jersey, and would have crossed to the west bank 
of the river had not Washington secured all the boats for miles 
above and below Trenton. It was in this unpromising con- 
dition of circumstances that Washington determined upon a 
bold stroke. With 2500 men he crossed the DelaAvare some 
miles above Trenton, surprised its garrison of Hessians, taking 
nearly all prisoners, and returned into Pennsjdvania. He then 
marched back to Trenton, whence being threatened by the 
British, he retreated by night to Princeton, and the first the 
British knew of his movement was the sound of his cannon 
in the distance. The British general, Cornwallis, was forced 
to follow, to protect his stores and avoid losing communication 
with New York. Washington went into winter quarters at 
Morristown, but he had succeeded in drawing the enemy from 
Philadelphia. His position was too strong to be attacked, 
and should the British push on towards Philadelphia, it would 
be at the risk of a flank movement on the part of Washington. 
The British were not idle, however ; marauding expeditions 
were sent out from New York into the surrounding country, 
and much damage was done. Newport, Rhode Island, was 




Reference Map lor the llevolutiou— NORTHEUN AND MIDDLE STATES. 



LAFAYETTE; STEUBEN. Ill 

captured late in 1776, and held by the British for about three 
years. Much of the ill success of the Americans in the early 
part of the campaign seems to have been due to two causes : 
first, Congress interfering with Washington; secondly, the 
treachery of General Charles Lee, who was next to Washing- 
ton in rank, and exceedingly jealous of him. Fortunately, 
Lee was surprised and captured by the British, and his troops 
were added to those of Washington. 

116. Lafayette ; Steuben. (1777.) — Early in the spring of 
1777 the Marquis de Lafayette, a young French nobleman, 
came to America to offer his services to the Americans. He 
brought also money for the cause. With him was a German 
officer. Baron de Kalb. Others also came from Europe ; 
Kosciusko, Pulaski, and later Baron Steuben, who had been 
trained under Frederick the Great, and who was of great 
service in drilling the American troops. 

117. Burgoyne's Surrender. (1777.) — Meanwhile, stirring 
events were taking place in the north. The British, in carry- 
ing out their plans, sent two expeditions from Canada ; one 
under General Burgoyne, to open communication with New 
York, for the Americans still held the river above Peekskill; 
the other to central New York, under St. Leger, to reduce the 
country to submission and then to join Burgoyne. Burgoyne's 
force consisted of about 10,000 men, of whom only about 7000 
were regular troops, the rest being Canadians or Indians. He 
was successful in taking Ticonderoga, and then pressed on 
towards the Hudson with the purpose of joining the army 
which Howe was to send to meet him. By thus getting the 
Americans between two fires, he hoped to annihilate them. 
The American forces under Philip Schuyler, only about 4000 
strong, were compelled to retreat, but they destroyed all the 



112 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

bridges, cut down trees, and obstructed the road as much as 
possible. Burgoyne, in confident assurance of success, sent 
a detachment to Vermont, in the hope of gaining that part of 
the country to the British. But this expedition, as well as 
that under St. Leger, was a failure. The people, instead of 
joining the British, were indignant at the invasion of their 
country, and wdiile Burgoyne was losing numbers every day, 
the militia came pouring in to swell the army of Schuyler. 
The British were far from their base of supplies, and could 
hear nothing of Howe. To drive back the Americans seemed 
the most feasible plan, but in the attempt to carry it out 
Burgoyne was checked in two battles near Saratoga. 
Hemmed up, and with his force decreased to about 6000 men, 
he was compelled to surrender, October 17, 1777, to General 
Gates, whom Congress had most unfairly put in the place of 
Schuyler, to whom the credit of organizing the opposition to 
Burgojme is due. Gates did not deserve any credit even for 
the battles; that belonged to Generals Benedict Arnold and 
Morgan. 

118. Howe's Blunder. (1777.) — The blunder of Howe in 
not advancing to meet Burgo3aie had most serious conse- 
quences for the British cause, leading, as it did, to the 
surrender of Burgoyne, the recognition of America by France, 
and the French alliance. It was not till eighty years had 
elapsed that the reason for Howe's action was explained. 
General Charles Lee, who had been captured in New Jersey 
(sect. 115), secretly tendered his services to the British, 
and advised Howe to take Philadelphia, ''the rebel capital, 
which would destroy the rebel government," and also to send 
an expedition up the Chesapeake Bay to prevent aid being 
sent from Virginia and Maryland. Both Maryland and 
Pennsylvania, he asserted, were in sympathy with the British, 



I 



HOWE CAPTURES PHILADELPHIA. 113 

and only needed encouragement to declare for the king. 
Lee, not having a very high opinion of Washington's general- 
ship, believed that this could be done without much difficulty, 
and Burgoyne would be more than a match for Schuyler and 
Gates. But Washington chose his positions so skilfully 
that Howe dared neither to attack nor to leave him in his 
rear. It is probable that Washington never displayed greater 
skill than at this critical juncture, but as no battles were 
fought, and there was nothing to show to the public, the 
fortunes of the struggling republic to outward appearance 
seemed to be in a most discouraging state. 

119. Howe captures Philadelphia. (1777.) — After two or 
three Aveeks Howe determined to make another attempt to 
capture Philadelphia, and, apparently influenced by Lee's 
advice, he embarked an army and set sail for the Delaware ; 
but on arriving at the bay of that name, fearing obstructions 
in the river, or for s6me other unexplained reason, he put to 
sea again, and reaching the Chesapeake, went up that bay as 
far as Elkton, where he disembarked his forces and started 
for Philadelphia. Though Howe issued proclamations of 
amnesty, they had little effect, for very few of the inhabitants 
joined him; whether they sympathized with the British or 
not, they evidently did not care to run any unnecessary risk. 

As soon as Washington had found out that Howe had left 
New York, he broke up his encampments, and hurried to 
intercept him, if possible, before he could reach Philadelphia. 
The armies met, September 11, at Chad's Ford, on the 
Brandywine Creek, about fifteen miles north of Wilmington. 
Washington had but about 11,000 men against Howe's 
18,000 ; but he saw it was necessary to make an effort to 
defend Philadelphia. He chose his position and placed his 
forces with great skill, but in the engagement which followed 



114 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

he was driven back with considerable loss, and was forced to 
retreat ; this was done in such good order that it was a fort- 
night before Howe was able to enter the "rebel capital." 
The battle of the Brandywine was of great service to the 
American army, though it had been a defeat, for it proved 
that the American troops could stand against the British and 
Hessian regulars. 

120. Germantown; Valley Forge. (1777-1778.) — Washing- 
ton made an attack, October 14, upon the British at German- 
town, then a village six miles from Philadelphia. Though 
well planned, the attempt was a failure, partly on account of 
the heavy fog in which two divisions of the Americans fired 
upon each other, and threw the attacking party into confusion. 
As Washington could do little more, and as it was now late 
in the year, he went into winter quarters on the Schuylkill 
River at Valley Forge, from which place he could watch both 
Philadelphia and New York. Howe and his army remained 
in Philadelphia, where they had many sympathizers. But 
the British army was much demoralized by its stay in the 
city. Franklin said that the British had not so much taken 
Philadelphia as that Philadelphia had taken the British. 
The circumstances of the American troops were far different. 
Shut in on the south and west by high hills, and lying open 
to the river in front. Valley Forge was admirably fitted for 
the winter quarters of a small arm}^ but the very name has 
become almost a synonym for suffering. The soldiers were 
poorly fed, thinly clad, and slightly housed. Washington 
wrote, December 23, that 2898 men were "unfit for duty, 
because they were barefoot and otherwise naked." 

121. The Conway Cabal. (1778.) — It is a disgrace to Con- 
gress that this suffering was occasioned not by lack of means, 



THE CONWAY CABAL. 115 

but because of gross mismanagement of the commissary 
department, due to the interference of Congress. In fact, at 
this time, and later, the Continental Congress was far from 
being that wise, and self-sacrificing, and patriotic body which 
it is supposed by many to have been. Political and personal 
reasons influenced it greatly, and Washington's correspond- 
ence shows how often he was hampered, and his well-laid 
plans brought to naught by Congressional action. Members 
of Congress, ignorant of military tactics and of the practical 
difficulties in the way, censured Washington for not doing 
that which Congress itself kept him from doing through lack 
of supplies it could have readily furnished. John Adams 
said he was sick of this Fabian system. Dr. Benjamin Rush, 
of Philadelphia, in an anonymous letter to Patrick Henry, 
said: "The northern army has shown us what Americans are 
capable of doing with a general [Gates] at their head. The 
spirit of the southern army is in no way inferior to the spirit 
of the northern. A Gates, a Lee, or a Conway would in 
a few weeks render them an irresistible body of men." 
General Gates was a scheming, ambitious man. He had 
succeeded in supplanting Schuyler; he now tried to supplant 
Washington, and all through the winter of 1777-78 intrigues 
were set on foot with this end in view. Members of Con- 
gress, as' well as officers in the army, were implicated; one 
of these, Conway by name, an Irish volunteer,^ was prominent 
in the affair, and it is called from him the " Conway Cabal." 
As soon as the matter became known, public indignation was 
so strong that the movement failed completely, and most of 
those who had anything to do with it did their best to 
conceal their share. But Washington retained the con- 
fidence of the people, who, in John Adams's language, 
idolized him. 



116 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

122. France supports America ; British Overtures. (1778.) — 
The second stage of the Revolutionary War had been reached. 
Up to this time the conflict had been between Great Britain 
and her rebellious subjects ; now other nations were drawn 
in, and, as in the French and Indian War, the struggle be- 
came part of an international contest. If the surrender of 
Burgoyne, at Saratoga, cheered the hearts of the desponding 
Americans, it brought dismay to the British government. 
It proved to be the real turning-point of the war, and the 
Battle of Saratoga has always been considered as one of the 
decisive battles of the world. France, who had long wished 
for an opportunity to revenge herself for the loss of her 
American possessions, and had been secretly aiding the 
Americans, on the news of the surrender of Burgoyne, 
listened to the advances of Benjamin Franklin, whom the 
congress had appointed minister to France, and early in 
1778 signed a treaty of alliance, agreeing to send a fleet to 
the aid of America and an arni}^ of 4000 men as well. Of 
course, as soon as the British government heard this, war 
was declared against the French. Again overtures were 
made to the Americans. Everything that the colonists 
had asked a few years before — freedom from taxation, repre- 
sentation in Parliament — Avas offered, but it was too late. 
Spain, who was also under Bourbon rule, joined France, and 
in about a year Holland, for reasons of her own, acknowledged 
the independence of the United States. 

123. Effect of the French Alliance. (1778.) —The immediate 
effect of the French alliance in America was to inspire the 
Americans with new courage, and make them refuse any 
overtures for peace that did not explicitly acknowledge the 
independence of the states, and it also led to the evacuation 
of Philadelphia by the British ; for, fearing that the French 




BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 



BRITISH FAILURE IN MIDDLE COLONIES. 117 

fleet would seize New York, the British government ordered 
their army back to that city, which was of more importance 
to them than Philadelphia. Besides all this, the French 
alliance divided the attention of England, and prevented her 
from increasing her army in the colonies. It also greatly 
helped the financial credit of the Americans. 

124. British Failure in the Middle Colonies. (1778.) —Washing- 
ton was on the alert, and after the evacuation of Philadelphia, 
fell upon the retreating armies at Monmouth, in New Jersey, 
and had it not been for the insubordination of General 
Charles Lee, who had been exchanged and restored to his 
position in the army, this would have been a decisive victory; 
as it was, Washington came up in time to change a retreat 
into a firm stand. During the night the British retreated 
and reached New York. Again Washington took up his old 
position north of the city, his line extending along the 
highlands as far as Morristown, New Jersey. The British 
force had gained nothing, but had succeeded in arousing a 
vast amount of ill-will to their cause by the ravages of their 
troops and their often brutal treatment of the inhabitants. 
In this way many Tories had been turned into Whigs, for 
little difference had been made between friend and foe. 
The British campaign in the middle colonies had failed. 
There remained the southern colonies, and it was resolved to 
make that part of the country the field of operations. 

125. French Aid; Massacre of Wyoming; the Indians. (1778- 
1779.) — According to agreement, the French sent to America 
a fleet and a land force of 4000 men. The expedition 
came first to New York, but finding the draft of some of the 
vessels too great to cross the bar at the entrance of the harbor, 
it was determined to attack Newport, Rhode Island, which- 



118 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

had remained in the possession of the British (sect. 115). 
Owing to storms and bad management, this attempt was a 
failure, and the French admiral sailed with his fleet to the 
West Indies. During the years 1778-1779 there were a num- 
ber of plundering expeditions and many experiences of the 
horrors of a border warfare. In July, 1778, a force of British 
and Indians, under the lead of a Tory named Butler, and 
Brant, a Mohawk chief, came from Fort Niagara, and 
attacking a Connecticut settlement in Wyoming valley, 
Pennsylvania, butchered the settlers and destroyed almost 
everything ; the same year another of the Butler family and 
Brant destroyed the village of Cherry Valley, in New York, 
massacring the inhabitants. These were only the principal 
instances ; there were others, only less cruel because of their 
less magnitude. 

126. American Retaliation. (1779.) — War demanded retalia- 
tion, and so in the spring of the following year Washington 
organized an expedition against tlie Indians, placing it under 
the command of General Sullivan. The object of this 
expedition was, in Washington's OAvn words, " to carry war 
into the heart of the country of the Six Nations, to cut off 
their settlements, destroy their next year's crops, and do 
every other mischief which time and circumstances will 
permit." The country was not to be " merely run over, but 
destroyed." In October, 1779, Washington wrote: "General 
Sullivan has completed the entire destruction of the country 
of the Six Nations, and driven all the inhabitants — men, 
Avomen, and children — out of it." It is hardly necessary to 
say that this proceeding did not stop the Indian ravages ; 
they continued to a greater or less degree until 1783. In 
the Declaration of Independence the king of Great Britain 
was accused of bringing "on the inhabitants of our frontiers 



THE NAVY; JOHN PAUL JONES. 119 

the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is 
an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and con- 
ditions." It was a complaint ill-becoming the American 
Congress to make, as before April, 1775, Indians had been 
enlisted as minute-men in Massachusetts, and on the 25th of 
May, 1776, Congress had resolved "that it is highly expedient 
to engage the Indians in the service of the United Colonies." 
On the 17th of June General Washington was authorized to 
em23loy Indians wherever they would be most useful, and 
also to " offer them a reward of one hundred dollars for every 
commissioned officer, and thirty dollars for every private 
soldier of the king's troops, that they shall take prisoners in 
the Indian country, or on the frontiers of those colonies." 
The cruel necessities of war probably demanded that the aid 
of the Indians should be sought b}' each party, but justice 
must lay the responsibility on both, and a charge of incon- 
sistency upon the American Congress as well. 

127. The Navy ; John Paul Jones. (1775 1779.) — The Amer- 
icans had hardly any navy. Congress had very early issued 
letters of marque to merchant vessels, thus constituting them 
j)rivateers ; that is, had given them authority to make war 
on British ships and take merchant vessels as prizes. The 
most successful commander of any of these cruisers was John 
Paul Jones, who was a regular commissioned officer in the 
United States navy. He took so many British ships, and he 
attacked vessels of the royal navy with such success, that his 
very name inspired fear. In a terrible conflict off Scar- 
borough, on the east coast of England (1779), Jones's ship, 
Le Bonli07ii7ne Richard (named after the "Poor Richard " of 
Franklin's Almanac), engaged the British ship Serapis. The 
two vessels were so near that Jones lashed them together. 
After a desperate hand-to-hand fight, the Serapis surrendered, 



120 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

but not before Jones had lost 300 of his 375 men. His vessel 
was so injured that she began to sink, and he transferred every- 
thing to his prize. It is likely that at least 500 privateers were 
commissioned by the individual states, besides those by Con- 
gress: this was in addition to the regular navy. The amount 
of damage to the British commerce may be imagined from 
the fact that 818 prizes Avere condemned during the year 1780 
by one court in Massachusetts alone. It has been estimated 
that over 70,000 men were engaged in this naval warfare on the 
American side. The largest number of land forces at any one 
time in service was about 47,000 in 1776, while the average 
number of those nominally in service was only about 32,000. 

128. Western Settlements; George Rogers Clark. (1775- 
1779.) — By the treaty of 1763 England gained the vast 
territory between the Alleghanies and the Mississippi River 
(map p. 78), but she did not attempt to colonize it. She 
followed the French plan of keeping the land for the hunter 
and trapper. She occupied the old French posts of Kas- 
kaskia, Cahokia, and some others, but did little else. Before 
the Revolutionary War broke out, explorers had begun to 
the mountains from Virginia and North Carolina. 



cross 



■fc> 



Among these was Daniel Boone, who as early as 1767 left 
North Carolina in quest of "the count}^ of Kentucke." In 
March, 1775, he started with a company of thirty men to 
prepare for a settlement in the beautiful country he had 
explored. These pioneers chopped a path through the woods 
for tAVO hundred miles. It went through the Cumberland 
Gap, it crossed rivers and streams which had to be forded, 
and led into the wilderness where no white man had dAvelt. 
This route was known as Boone's Trail or the Wilderness 
Road, and over it, in later years, thousands went to seek 
new homes in the west. In spite of Indian attacks 



CONTINENTAL MONEY. 121 

Boonesborough was founded. Almost every settlement in 
this southwest country was the result of individual effort. 
Daniel Boone in Kentucky, and John Sevier and James 
Robertson in Tennessee, were leaders in this great movement. 
Hamilton, the British governor of the northwest region, 
had been ordered to enlist the Indians on the side of the 
British, and was very successful in doing it by means of 
presents and rewards. Many terrible Indian attacks fol- 
lowed, which made the settlers along the Pennsylvania and 
Virginia frontier and in Kentucky almost panic-stricken. 
Among the men in Kentucky was George Rogers Clark, a 
young Virginian. He believed that if the British posts in 
the Illinois country could be captured, the danger from the 
Indians would be averted, and the vast western country 
secured. As Kentucky was, at that time, part of Virginia, 
he went to Williamsburg, the capital, to seek the aid and 
authority of Patrick Henry, then governor, to carry out 
this plan. The plan was approved, and Clark was given 
some funds, was commissioned a colonel, and was authorized 
to raise troops. With the comparatively small force he was 
able to get together, he took Kaskaskia, Vincennes, and other 
places (map, p. 53). When Vincennes was retaken by the 
British, he re-captured it, overcoming difficulties which most 
men would have thought insurmountable. During this cam- 
paign, he and his men marched across a flooded country in 
bitterly cold weather, often up to their necks in water, and 
endured hardships innumerable. Through the skill and 
perseverance of Clark, the United States gained the whole 
Illinois region* which, but for him, might have been lost. 

129. Continental Money. (1775-1779.) — One of the greatest 
difficulties which presented itself to the Continental Congress 
was how to raise the money necessary for carrying on the 



122 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

war. It has already been seen that they issued paper cur- 
rency for this purpose in 1775. It is quite likely that had 
the Continental Congress at that time attempted to tax the 
several colonies for the support of the war, the attempt might 
have been successful ; but it did not try. It pursued the plan, 
already familiar to the colonists, of issuing paper money — 
promises to pay coin on demand or after a certain date. Of 
course a promise to pay is only valuable in proportion to 
the ability to pay, and unless the Americans gained their 
independence, they would not be able to pay. Accordingly, 
the more discouraging the prospect, the less the people were 
willing to take the paper bills, only accepting them at a 
heavy discount. Again, the larger the amount, the less likely 
the ability to pay. Before July 4, 1776, twenty millions of 
dollars had been issued. It was useless to issue any more, 
for the people would not take any more ; Washington said 
that " a wagon-load of bills would not buy a wagon-load of 
provisions." In December, 1779, the nominal coin value of a 
continental paper dollar was only two cents, but hardly any 
one would give that, and in a few weeks the paper money 
was worthless. Besides the paper money issued by Congress, 
the individual colonies had issued their share, so the whole 
country Avas flooded with this Avretched substitute for coin, 
and in addition to this British forgeries were plentiful." 

130. Foreign Loans. (1775-1781.) — Soon after the break- 
ing out of the hostilities. Congress had tried to borrow money 
in Europe, particularly from France and Holland, but the 
bankers of Europe were slow to lend to rebellious sul)jects of 
a powerful king ; funds could only be had at high rates of 
interest, and even sucli funds could not have been secured 
without the personal aid of such men as Franklin and John 
Adams. Most if not all the aid that was received from 




>^fx^e(^:'S)^'^)(^^m-^sx^^§^^^-^^^^)^'^^ 




^2)^'h^:^^J^\^^i)(S):^^)(g)\S>^^S(^:^^^ 



ROBERT MORRIS. 123 

France was given more with the object of injuring her 
ancient enemy England, than from sympathy for America. 
One great difficulty that stood in the way of negotiating 
loans lay in the fact that Congress had no power of impos- 
ing taxes ; it could only recommend to the states to raise 
money, not compel them to do it. Thus the money-lender 
would ask, ^' How are you going to pay the interest?" The 
only answer possible was, " We hope the states will raise the 
amount needed." This was poor security indeed ; but partly 
through belief in the promises, partly through French hatred 
of England, and a desire to see her humbled, the Congress 
managed to borrow about 111,000,000 in Europe during the 
war. The French alliance, after the surrender of Burgoyne, 
was of the greatest assistance to the United States ; had it 
not been for this, her credit would have been quite lost. 

131. Robert Morris. (1781.) — There was also a large 
home debt ; for, like individuals in desperate straits. Con- 
gress borrowed money wherever it could. In 1781, when 
the outlook was most gloomy. Congress appointed Robert 
Morris, of Philadelphia, Superintendent of Finance. He 
agreed to take the office only on condition that Congress 
would return to specie payment and give up the attempt to 
make the people take paper money. This was done. And 
to aid the government, the Bank of North America was 
chartered at Philadelphia by Congress. The bank is still in 
existence, and, with the exception of one in Boston, is the 
only bank in the United States that can claim so long a lease 
of life. Many stories have been told of the suffering of the 
men in consequence of the worthlessness of the money 
which was paid to them. Just after the battle of Trenton, 
Washington wrote to Robert Morris that he must have 
150,000 in hard cash, or a large number of men whose term 



124 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



of enlistment was out would leave the army. Morris, appre- 
ciating the gravity of the situation, went about among his 
friends early in the morning, before it was light, to try to 
raise the sum needed ; he succeeded, and sent the cash to 
Washington. This is but one instance of Morris's perse- 
verance and success. Had it not been for him it is hard to 
see how the finances of the Revolution could have been 
carried on. Early in 1781 the Pennsylvania militia revolted 
and refused to serve any longer in the army, on account pf 

receiving neither pay nor sup- 
plies. They started to march 
to Philadelphia to compel 
Congress to do them justice. 
Congress sent commissioners 
to meet them, who promised to 
satisfy the troops, and they 
thereupon agreed not to dis- 
band. Other instances some- 
what similar might be men- 
tioned. In November, 1780, 
the army had been ten months 
without pay, and their supplies 
All through this period the 




ROBERT MORRIS. 



were poor and insufficient. 

patience of Washington was marvellous. 



132. Benedict Arnold; Dark Days. (1778-1780.) — After 
the battle of Monmouth (sect. 124) both the British and the 
American armies had remained comparatively quiet, nothing 
but skirmishes taking place. Two incidents deserve men- 
tion. In 1779 Wajme — " Mad Anthony," as he was called 
from his daring — stormed and took Stony Point, a fortress 
below West Point, which the British had captured. As the 
Americans were not able to hold this place, it was destroyed. 



I 



ARNOLD'S TREASON. 125 

In 1780 the Americans nearly met with a great disaster 
through the treason of General Benedict Arnold. Arnold, 
who had shown himself to be one of the bravest of the 
American commanders, was so wounded in the leg during 
the Saratoga campaign as to unfit him for field service. 
Washington, who had a high opinion of his abilities, ap- 
pointed him to the command of Philadelphia after its 
evacuation by the British. Arnold, despite his abilities, 
seems to have had a great fondness for getting into quarrels 
and making enemies. Congress promoted junior men over 
him, and this incurred his ill-will. While in Philadelphia he 
lived in extravagant style, and associated with the Tory ele- 
ment, finally marrying a Tory's daughter. He was accused 
by the state government of dishonesty, and of other things 
that were mostly rather indiscretions than crimes. He was 
finally acquitted of the serious charges, but was sentenced 
to be reprimanded for the others by Washington. That 
Washington thought Arnold hardly treated is shown by 
the fact that, after Arnold's resignation of his command at 
Philadelphia, he was appointed to the command of West 
Point. 

133. Arnold's Treason. (1780.) — The year 1780 was one 
of the darkest periods of the war, and Arnold doubtless 
thought the struggle was hopeless ; and there seems to be 
little doubt that he applied for the command at West Point 
with the intention of betraying the fortress to the British. 
In order to complete the plans for the delivery of that post, 
it was needful that the British general should send a personal 
representative to treat with Arnold. Major John Andre 
was the one selected, and, in September, 1780, the visit was 
made to Arnold, and the arrangements completed. By a 
series of mischances Andr^ was captured by three New York 



126 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

militiamen and the treasonable plan discovered. Arnold 
heard of the failure in time to escape ; but Andr^ was tried 
by a court-martial, found guilty of being a spy, and was 
hanged. No incident in the war has occasioned so much 
comment as this, but the opinion expressed by a recent Brit- 
ish historian probably gives the commonly received judgment 
of the present day : " The justice of his sentence can hardly 
be denied." ^ 

134. Southern Campaign. (1778-1780.) — The failures of the 
British in the middle colonies and New England made them 
turn to the South. There was much to encourage them to 
attempt a campaign there. Florida was theirs ; Georgia was 
thinly settled and could not make much resistance ; the 
negroes were numerous and not likely to be anything but a 
hindrance to their owners in case of active hostilities; the 
South had experienced nothing of the war since an attack on 
Charleston in 1776, and had been the place from which the 
continental armies had drawn much of their supplies ; more- 
over, it was believed that the inhabitants were very lukewarm 
in their adherence to the American cause, as there was 
undoubtedly a large number of Tories. Late in 1778 the 
British sent an expedition from New York against Savan- 
nah, and very soon captured it. In the spring of 1780 they 
succeeded in shutting up General Lincoln, the American 
commander, in Charleston, and he was forced to surrender. 
Sir Henry Clinton, the British commander-in-chief, himself 
took part in the attack. Leaving Cornwallis in charge of 
the southern forces, Clinton returned to New York. The 

1 Arnold received the reward for what he intended to do, the commission 
of a general in the British army and £G815 sterling. He fought against his 
country in Connecticut and in Virginia ; went to England and then to New 
Brunswick ; but he was always regarded with contempt. 




Refereuce Map lor the Revolution — SOUTHERN SPATES. 



I 



GATES'S FAILURE; GREENE. 127 

British now had complete control of Georgia, and restored 
the royal government. In no part of the war was there so 
much retaliation practised. The Whigs and Tories fought 
among themselves. Marauding expeditions from both sides 
went up and down the country pillaging and destroying, 
every now and then meeting and fighting, with success and 
defeat about equally distributed. 

135. Gates's Failure ; Greene. (1780-1781.) — Congress sent 
Gates, who had gained undeserved reputation from Saratoga, 
to take command of the southern armies. He met the Brit- 
ish at Camden, South Carolina. Here, though he had fully 
twice as many men as Cornwallis, he was totally defeated, 
and, fleeing ahead of his army, he hardly paused in his rapid 
flight until some seventy miles distant from the field of bat- 
tle. A large part of Gates's forces, it is true, were militia, 
who fled at the first shot of the British, but his reputation 
was gone. South Carolina was now wholly under British 
control, and there was no organized army to oppose it in 
either of the Carolinas. Greene, by the advice of Washing- 
ton, was sent to supersede Gates. Nathaniel Greene, of 
Rhode Island, was of Quaker birth, and a blacksmith by 
trade. He entered the army early in the conflict, rose by 
reason of his natural abilities, and became, without question, 
the ablest of the Revolutionary officers except Washington. 
The change of commanders was soon made evident by the 
conduct of the campaign. The Americans had been success- 
ful, shortly after the defeat at Camden, in surprising and 
capturing a British force at King's Mountain ; and at Cow- 
pens another force under Tarleton was completely beaten. 
Greene was too weak to attack Cornwallis, and so retreated, 
hoping that Cornwallis would follow him. This he did, and 
at Guilford Court House, near Greensboro', North Carolina, 



128 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the armies met. After a sharp conflict, Greene retreated, 
leaving Cornwallis in possession of the field ; but the British 
loss was so heavy that Cornwallis could not pursue the 
Americans, who had retreated in good order. Though nom- 
inally defeated, Greene had succeeded in his main purpose. 
He had drawn Cornwallis so far from his base of supplies 
that he could not return, and was forced to go to Wilming- 
ton, North Carolina, to recruit and to try to open communi- 
cations with the British fleet. It was the despatch of 
Cornwallis to the British Colonial Secretary announcing 
this victory that made Charles James Fox exclaim, "Another 
such victory would destroy the British army ! " Greene 
meanwhile hurried back to South Carolina, and though he 
was defeated several times, his movements were so skilful, 
and the British losses were so severe, that by September, 
1781, the British held only Charleston and Savannah. 

136. Cornwallis marches to Virginia. (1781.) — Cornwallis, 
when he found where Greene had gone, apparently thought 
that the British forces in South Carolina would be able to 
hold him in check, and so determined to march into Virginia 
and join the British troops already there, who had been sent 
from New York to annoy that colony and keep it from aiding 
the Carolinas. One of these expeditions was under Benedict 
Arnold, wlio took Richmond and committed a great deal of 
devastation through the country .^ 

Laiayette had already been sent by Washington to watch 
affairs in Virginia, and with his small force had been very 
successful. Cornwallis, after having spent considerable time 
marching to and fro in order to prevent Lafayette from gain- 

1 Clinton had so little confidence in Arnold that he gave his two subordinate 
officers commissions under which they could act in case Arnold should prove 
to be a traitor to his employers. 



YORKTOWN. 129 

ing reinforcements, now received orders to seize some post 
where there w^ould be easy communication with the sea, and 
to fortify it: Cornwallis accordingly took Yorktown and 
proceeded to carry out his instructions. 

137. Yorktown. (1781.) — Hitherto, though the moral 
influence of the French alliance had been of the greatest 
advantage to the United States, the army had done little or 
nothing. In 1780 the Count Rochambeau reached New- 
port, Rhode Island, with 6000 troops, who not long after 
were marched to the Hudson to help Washington in a pro- 
jected attack on New York. Clinton, the British com- 
mander, was alarmed ; and well he might be, for a powerful 
French fleet was on the point of being sent to America with 
orders to co-operate for a time with the American forces 
before going on to the West Indies, its ultimate destination. 
Learning in August that the destination of this fleet, which 
also had on board a small reinforcement of French troops, 
was the Chesapeake, Washington resolved to change the seat 
of war to Virginia, and with the assistance of the fleet cut 
off Cornwallis. These plans were carried out with the 
greatest secrecy. By starting from Peekskill, a few miles 
south of West Point, his destination might well be supposed 
to be Staten Island, a good place to begin the attack on New 
York, which Clinton was expecting. Deceiving the enemy, 
Washington was almost at Philadelphia before Clinton knew 
Avhat he was about. By the energy of Franklin and Laurens 
in France, new loans had been negotiated, which opportunely 
provided the money needed to make the change of base, 
and the American and French troops marched to the head 
of Chesapeake Bay, and were embarked on transports at 
Elkton and at Baltimore, and brought to the York peninsula 
in Virginia. The French fleet reached the Chesapeake as 



130 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

expected, landed the reinforcements for Lafayette, and being 
attacked by a division of the English fleet, drove it off, and 
so was able to co-operate with the land forces in blockading 
Cornwallis. 

138. Cornwallis surrenders October 19, 1781. — After a siege 
of three weeks, during which Cornwallis made a number of 
desperate efforts to escape, he surrendered on the 19th of 
October, 1781, with all his forces, numbering about 8000 
men. The allied French and American armies numbered 
about 16,000. The same terms of surrender as had been 
imposed upon Lincoln at Charleston (sect. 134), including 
the laying down of arms, were required; and as Cornwallis did 
not appear, pleading illness, General Lincoln, who had been 
exchanged, was appointed to receive his sword from the sub- 
ordinate who represented him. A fleet with reinforcements 
for Cornwallis sailed from New York the day of the surren- 
der, but returned as soon as the news was heard. In Phil- 
adelphia the tidings were received at midnight, and the 
citizens were startled by the watchman's cry, " Past twelve 
o'clock, and Cornwallis is taken ! " All felt that this victory 
was the virtual end of the war. Washington returned with 
his army to his old quarters on the Hudson at Newburgli, 
but hostilities, with a few exceptions, ceased pending news 
from abroad. 

139. The News in England ; Peace. (1783*) — Lord North 
is said to have received the news " as he would have taken 
a bullet through his breast," exclaiming, " O God, it is all 
over!" The king and his ministers tried to take measures 
to continue the war, but the opposition in Parliament and 
among the people was too strong. Fox, Burke, and the 
younger Pitt in the House of Commons, and Shelburne in 



PEACE. 131 

the House of Lords, attacked the government violently, and 
large public meetings were held in London and elsewhere, 
demanding that the war should cease. At length, on March 
20, 1782, the Ministry resigned, and George III. was forced 
to appoint one favorable to making peace. It was not, how- 
ever, until December that the king publicly announced to 
Parliament his consent to the acknowledgment of the inde- 
pendence of the colonies. 

It was nearly two years before the terms of peace could be 
agreed upon, so difficult were the questions to be settled, and 
so loath were the English to yield point after point. Mean- 
time the American army, unpaid, was dwindling away from 
month to month. A conspiracy was started to make Wash- 
ington king, which he soon stopped, spurning the suggestion 
with sternness and sorrow. Another plan was to refuse 
to disband until Congress or the states should pay arrears 
due. This, which seems to have been encouraged by Gates, 
was also stopped through Washington's influence. At length, 
on the 19th of April, 1783, the anniversary of the battle 
of Lexington, which was generally considered to be the 
beginning of the Revolution, peace was formally proclaimed ; 
most of the soldiers were given leave of absence, and the 
army was practically disbanded, though some of the troops 
were retained at Newburgh until the evacuation of New 
York by the British, November 25, 1783. 

Rebellion had resulted in revolution, revolution in inde- 
pendence. This result was expected by few at the outset, 
undesired by many, and only brought about by the skill and 
perseverance of those who were at the beginning, and also, 
perhaps, during a good part of the struggle, a minority. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE CONFEDERATION. THE CONSTITUTION. 
REFERENCES. 

General. — G. Bancroft, History of the United States, vi. ; R. Hildreth, 
History of the United States, iii. 374-547, iv. 25-40 ; Bryant and Gay, 
Popular History of the United States, iv. 79-99 ; James Schouler, History 
of the United States, i. 1-73 ; John Fiske, The Critical Period of American 
History, a graphic and admirable survey of the period ; see also his articles 
in the Atlantic Monthly for 1886, 1887 ; Winsor, Narrative and Critical 
History, viii., Chaps, iii., iv.; G. T. Curtis, Constitutional History of the 
United States, i. ; J. B. McMaster, History of the People of the United 
States, i., Chap. iii. ; A. B. Hart, Formation of the Union (Epochs of Ameri- 
can History), pp. 95-135 ; W. M. Sloane, The French War and the Revolu- 
tion (American History Series), pp. 348-388; E. Channing, The United 
States, Chap, iv. 

Biographies. — See References to Chap. vi. 

Special. — For Land Claims: H. B. Adams, Johns Hopkins University 
Studies in History and Political Science, iii. 7-54 ; B. A. Hinsdale, Old 
Northwest, pp. 192-262 ; American History Leaflets, No. 22 ; Old South 
Leaflets, Nos. 15, 16, Washington's Letters to Governors, etc. For the 
Constitutional Convention : Century Magazine, September, 1887 ; Magazine 
of American History, xiii. 313-345. For the Constitution : Document, Ap- 
pendix to this volume ; Old South Leaflets, No. 1 ; E. D. Mead, Old South 
Manuals, The Constitution ; American History Leaflets, No. 8. Discussion : 
James Bryce, The American Commonwealth, i,. Chaps, i.-iv. ; I. W. Andrews, 
Manual of the Constitution, Revised Edition ; H. S. Maine, Popular Govern- 
ment, pp. 196-254 ; E. J. Phelps, Nineteenth Century, xxiii. 297-316, 441-457 ; 
A. Johnston, New Princeton Review, iv. 175-190. 

140. Land Claims. (1781.) — The war was at end; the 
independence of the United States was acknowledged by 
England. At first sight all seemed accomplished. In 
reality, perhaps the most difficult questions remained to be 

132 



LAND CLAIMS. 133 

solved. In fighting for independence the people had a com- 
mon interest at stake upon which all could unite ; there was 
no such issue before them now, and the petty jealousies, 
which had already shown themselves during the course of 
the struggle, became very prominent. The Articles of Con- 
federation, agreed upon by the Continental Congress in 1777, 
had only gone into effect in 1781 by the accession of Mary- 
land, whose adherence had been withheld on account of the 
ownership of the western lands ceded by France in 1763. 
Maryland held that these lands were acquired by the com- 
mon effort of all the colonies, and therefore should be a 
common possession. Six of the colonies — New Hampshire, 
Rhode Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and 
Maryland — had boundaries fixed by their charters. The 
western limits of the others were indefinite, though by the 
treaty of Paris, 1763, the Mississippi was recognized as the 
eastern boundary of the Spanish possessions, thus putting 
an end to the extravagant claims which some of the colonies 
had made. But all the colonies, except the six already 
mentioned, insisted that they extended to the MississippL 
Virginia claimed that according to charter, her northern 
boundary extended in the northwesterly direction indefi- 
nitely. This would include, besides the present state of 
Kentucky, the whole of what was afterwards known as the 
Northwestern Territory. New York was the first to give up 
her claims, and upon the assurance that the other states 
would follow her example, Maryland entered the Confedera- 
tion, 1781. It was not until 1802 that various cessions to 
the United States fixed the boundaiies of the original thir- 
teen states as at present, Georgia being the last to give up 
her claim. Connecticut reserved the ownership of a part of 
northeastern Ohio, still known as the Western Reserve, but 
finally sold it, the proceeds of the sale being set aside " as a 



134 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

perpetual fund, the interest of which should be appropriated 
to the support of schools." 

141. Weakness of the Confederation. (1781-1786.) The 

Articles of Confederation were of little practical use. Per- 
haps the most important result was that they accustomed 
the people to the idea of union. By the time they went into 
force, local jealousies had reached such a pitch that the 
interest of the colonies as a whole occupied a secondary 
place in men's minds. It was almost impossible to get 
enough delegates to attend Congress to carry on the routine 
business of that body, and again and again adjournments 
were made because there was no quorum. By the Articles 
of Confederation Congress had large powers, but it had no 
means of enforcing its acts, and was completely at the mercy 
of the states, which did as they pleased. Unable to regulate 
foreign commerce, to raise revenue to pay its debts, or to 
enforce its acts, the Confederation soon fell into contempt, 
both at home and abroad, its credit was gone, and England 
openly violated the provisions of the treaty of peace. 

The prosperity which had been expected to follow the 
declaration of peace had not come ; the finances of the coun- 
try were in a wretched state, and taxes were necessarily 
very burdensome. In western Massachusetts many refused 
to pay their taxes and resisted the collection of debts by the 
courts. This rising, known as Shays's Rebellion, from the 
leader in it, was speedily put down, but made a great impres- 
sion on the sober minds of the country, helping to confirm 
the feeling that a stronger government was necessary. 

142. Interstate Jealousies; Convention proposed. (1781-1787.) 

— Meanwhile, each state having the power to levy such duty 
as it pleased upon the commerce and trade with the other 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. 135 

states, the whole trade of the country was demoralized, and the 
most bitter ill-feeling existed between states. Congress now 
proposed to the states an amendment to the Articles, giving 
Congress the power to levy a duty upon imports. But no 
alteration could be made in the Articles excejDt by unani- 
mous consent. Rhode Island refused to agree, and Virginia, 
having once given her consent, afterwards withdrew it, and 
the amendment failed. Washington, and many of those who 
had done so much to secure the independence of the colonies, 
were almost in despair. Through the influence of James 
Madison, — who was one of a board of commissioners meet- 
ing, in 1785, at Alexandria, Virginia, to adjust the conflicting 
claims of Maryland and Virginia in Chesapeake Bay, — a 
convention of delegates from all the states was recommended 
to be called for the following year, to arrange, if possible, 
some general regulations for commerce. The Legislature of 
Virginia, in accordance with the recommendation, issued an 
invitation to all the states to send delegates to a conference 
to be held at Annapolis, Maryland, in the following year, 

1786. Only five states sent delegates. The twelve men 
who met issued a recommendatign to all the states to send 
delegates to a convention to be held in Philadelphia in May, 

1787, "to devise such further provisions as shall appear to 
them necessary to render the Constitution of the Federal 
Government adequate to the exigencies of the Union." The 
Continental Congress adopted the plan in February, 1787. 

143. The Constitutional Convention. (1787.) — Influenced, 
doubtless, by Shays's Rebellion, and the failure of the 
proposed amendment, all the states, except Rhode Island, 
responded to the call, and on the 25th of May, 1787, the 
convention fairly began its work in Independence Hall. 
Washington, who was a delegate from Virginia, was chosen 



136 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

president of the convention. It was without doubt one of 
the ablest bodies of men that ever came together. Each 
state seemed to have sent its best man. Besides Washington, 
were present Franklin, Hamilton, Madison, Gerry, Robert 
Morris, Gouverneur Morris, James Wilson, and Rutledge ; 
Jefferson and Adams would undoubtedly have been members 
had they not been abroad in the service of the country. The 
defects of the existing government were known to all ; the 
question was, how they could best be remedied. A difficulty 
arose at the very start, for many held that the power of the 
convention only extended as far as revision ; while others, as 
Hamilton and Madison, held that no revision could remedy 
the defects, but that an entirely new scheme should be de- 
vised. This last opinion prevailed, and the convention set 
about its work in earnest. 

144. Coippromises. (1787.) — For four months the debate 
went on behind closed doors. Often it seemed as if nothing 
could be done but break up and go home, so strong were the 
local jealousies. At this time Franklin proposed that the 
convention should be opened each day with prayer, saying : 
" Tlie longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see that 
God governs the affairs of men. . . . Without His concur- 
ring aid, we shall be divided by our little local interests, 
succeeding no better than the builders of Babel, and become 
a reproach and byword for all future ages. What is worse, 
mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance, 
despair of establishing government by human wisdom, and 
leave it to chance and war." His motion was not put to 
vote. Again, when there seemed little prospect of an agree- 
ment, he is reported to have said : " When a joiner wishes to 
fit two boards, he sometimes pares off a bit from both." So 
compromises were made. The small states had been unwill- 



A NATIONAL QUESTION. 137 

ing to give up any of their power, for fear they would be 
encroached upon by the larger states. This objection was 
met by allowing every state an equal representation in the 
Senate. Then the slavery question came up. The extreme 
South wished the slaves to be counted in apportioning the 
number of representatives in Congress. This was very dis- 
tasteful to the middle and northern states, as it would give 
the South more representatives, and tend to encourage the 
growth of slavery ; but believing that some compromise was 
essential, they gave way, and agreed that live slaves should 
be counted as equal to three whites. It was also provided 
that the foreign slave-trade might be proliibited after the 
year 1808. This compromise greatly influenced the subse- 
quent history of the country. It practically put the control 
of the House of Representatives in the hands of the South 
for about fifty years. 

145. A National Question. (1787.) — The Constitution was 
signed September 17, 1787, given to the public, and was trans- 
mitted to the Congress. This body, after a short debate, 
resolved to forward the document to the respective Legislat- 
ures, to be by them placed before the people by means of 
conventions chosen specially for the purpose of considering 
it. For the first time, a truly national issue was before 
the country. The question was : Should the new plan of 
government be adopted or rejected ? Those who favored the 
adoption were called Federalists, and those who opposed the 
adoption, Anti-Federalists. 

Both parties were patriotic. The Anti-Federalists feared 
the power of a strong central government, because they 
thought it would take away too much power from the states, 
and might result in tyranny similar to that of Great Britain, 
against which they had revolted. Samuel Adams, Patrick 



138 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Henry, and George Clinton were great opposers of the new 
Constitution, and against their patriotism no word could be 
spoken. The Federalists, on the contrary, believed that un- 
less a strong central government should be set up, the Union 
would go to pieces. They did not advocate the new scheme 
as an ideal form of government, but as the best attainable 
under the circumstances. They had the twofold advantage 
of proposing a definite remedy for a pressing and obvious 
evil, and of having, with a few exceptions, the ablest and 
most trusted men on their side ; for Washington, Hamilton, 
Madison, and Franklin were all earnest supporters of the 
new plan. 

146. "The Federalist." (1788.) — Congress had referred the 
Constitution to the states Avithout comment, leaving the 
people to decide for themselves. The questions which had 
been so earnestly debated in the convention were now taken 
up by the people and discussed with equal earnestness. Both 
in public and in private the advantages and disadvantages of 
the new scheme were pointed out. A remarkable series of 
papers appeared in the New York newspapers, under the 
signature of Publius, but written by Hamilton, Madison, and 
Jay, strongly advocating the adoption of the Constitution, 
and explaining its provisions. These papers, of which the 
greater number were by Hamilton, afterwards collected and 
published under the title of " The Federalist," still remain 
one of the ablest treatises upon the Constitution. 

147. Adoption of the Constitution. (1788.) — By the close 
of the year 1787, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey 
had in special conventions adopted the new Constitution ; 
shortly afterwards Georgia and Connecticut followed. The 
adhesion of four more states was needful for success. Massa^ 



ADOPTION OF THE CONSTITUTION. 



139 



chusetts acceded only with the understanding that certain 
amencbnents should be made as soon as practicable. These 
amendments were in the nature of a Bill of Rights (see the 
first ten Amendments to the Constitution). While the ques- 
tion was being decided, public feeling Avas stretched to the 
utmost tension, and it was not until June 21, 1788, by the 




CELEBRATION IN NEW YORK OF THE ADOPTION OF THE CONSTITUTION. 



vote of New Hampshire, that the assent of nine states, 
the requisite number, was obtained. Virginia followed im- 
mediately after New Hampshire, making ten, and New York 
soon made eleven.^ When it was known that a sufficient 
number of states had ratified the Constitution, the Federalists 



1 North Carolina and Rhode Island held aloof 
1789, the latter, until May 29, 1790. 



the former until Nov. 21, 



140 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

gave themselves up to wild demonstrations of joy. The 
great event was celebrated by processions with emblematic 
representations of the states, of the French Alliance, of the 
Union (as the " Ship of State "), and many other figures 
representing different trades and interests. In the celebra- 
tion in New York City the name of Hamilton was inscribed 
upon the car which bore the " Ship of State," in recognition 
of his influence in bringing about the wished-for result. In 
Baltimore the name of "Federal Hill" still remains to pre- 
serve the memory of the rejoicings in that city. The neces- 
sary number of states having given in their adherence. 
Congress, on September 13, 1788, appointed the first Wednes- 
day in the following January for the choice by the people of 
electors of a President, the first Wednesday in February for 
the electors to meet and choose the President and Vice- 
President, and the first Wednesday in March for the new 
government to go into operation. This day in 1789 was the 
fourth of the month, and so the fourth of March, subse- 
quently confirmed by the Congress, came to be tlie inaugu- 
ration day of each new President. 

148. The New Constitution. — The new Constitution is 
radically different from the Articles of Confederation in 
many points. It provides for a true central government 
with the power of enforcing its laws and regulations inde- 
pendently of the states ; the Congress is no longer an 
advisory body. Within its sphere the Constitution is the 
supreme law of the land, tlie constitutions and laws of the 
states to the contrary notwithstanding. The national gov- 
ernment regulates all matters of national interest, such as 
peace, war, commerce (both foreign and that between the 
states), all relations with foreign states, coinage of money, 
and post-offices. By its exclusive right to levy duties on 



LEGISLATIVE POWERS. 141 

imports, as well as its right to lay and collect other taxes 
and enforce their payment, the national treasury is forever 
made independent of the states. 

The national government is divided by the Constitution 
into three parts : the Legislative, or Congress, to make the 
laws ; the Executive, or the President and his subordinates, 
to carry out the laws which Congress makes ; and the Judi- 
ciary, or the Supreme Court and lower courts, to try all cases 
arising under national laws. The United States courts also 
decide whether laws are constitutional, but this can only be 
done when real cases are brought up for trial. 

149. The Legislative Powers. — The legislative power is 
vested in the Congress of the United States, which consists 
of a Senate and a House of Representatives. Each state 
has two senators, who are chosen by the state legislatures, 
and serve six years. Representatives are chosen by the 
people of the states ; they serve two years, and their number 
in each state is according to the population, but each state is 
entitled to at least one representative. These two houses, 
as they are called, must concur in passing laws. When a 
law is passed by both houses, it is sent to the President for 
his signature ; if he approves of it, he signs it, and it becomes 
a law. If he does not approve of it, he returns it to Congress 
Avith a message called a veto; if Congress should pass the bill 
again by a two-thirds vote, it becomes a law in spite of the 
veto ; also if the President does not return the bill within ten 
days, Sundays excepted, after he receives it, it becomes a law. 
The Senate has some special powers ; when treaties are made 
by the President, they must be approved by two-thirds of the 
Senate before they become effective ; most of the President's 
appointments to offices must also be confirmed by the Senate. 
The election of senators is so arranged that only one-third go 



142 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

out of office every two years, thus making it a continuous 
body, unlike the House of Representatives, which must be 
elected anew every two years. (This does not prevent repre- 
sentatives from being re-elected if the people desire it.) 

150. The Executive. — The executive power is vested in a 
President of the United States of America. He holds his 
office during the term of four years ; he is chosen nominally 
by electors elected by the people. It was originally expected 
that the electors would choose a man for President, but now 
they always choose that man who has been nominated by the 
party which they represent. The President is commander- 
in-chief of the army and the navy of the United States, and of 
the militia of the several states when called into actual ser- 
vice of the United States ; he has the power to make treaties, 
providing two-thirds of the Senate concur ; to nominate and, 
Avith the consent of the Senate, appoint ambassadors, other 
public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, 
and most of the important officers of the government. He 
is to take care that the laws are faithfully executed, and if he 
is unfaithful or guilty of any crime or misdemeanor, he may 
be accused by the House of Representatives and tried by the 
Senate. A Vice-President is elected at the same time as 
the President to take his place in case of the removal of the 
President from office or of his death, resignation, or inability 
to discharge the duties of the office. The Vice-President is 
the presiding officer of the Senate, but has no vote except in 
the case of a tie. Both the President and the Vice-President 
must be native-born citizens of the United States and be at 
least thirty-five years old. 

151. The Judiciary. — The judicial power of the United 
States is vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior 



AMENDMENT; CHECKS AND BALANCES. 143 

courts as the Congress may from time to time establish. 
All the judges hold office during good behavior. When- 
ever any of the laws of the national government are broken, 
or a question arises as to the meaning of a law, or as to 
whether any law is in accordance with the Constitution, the 
case, with a few exceptions, is tried in one of the inferior 
courts. If the persons concerned are not satisfied with the 
decision, they may appeal to a higher court, and in certain 
cases to the Supreme Court whose decision is final. 

152. Amendment; Checks and Balances. — One of the most 
important features of the Constitution is the provision made 
for amendment; but no change can be made without the 
concurrence of three-fourths of the states ; and no state can 
in any case be deprived of its equal representation in the 
Senate. 

It will be seen that the new government is full of checks 
and balances, the most important of which are two houses 
of Congress, the veto power of the President, the power of 
the Supreme Court to pronounce a law unconstitutional, and 
the frequent election of representatives. The Constitution 
is " perhaps the most remarkable monument of political wis- 
dom known to history. The convention which framed it 
was composed of the choicest material in the community, 
and was led astray by no theories of what might be good, 
but clave closely to what experience had demonstrated to be 
good." 



CHAPTER VIII. 

ORGANIZATION OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT. 
REFERENCES. 

General. — R. Hildreth, History of the United States, iv. Chaps, i.-ix., 
V. Chaps, x.-xiv. ; Bryant and Gay, Popular History of the United States, 
iv. 100-144 ; J. Schouler, History of the United States, i. 74-501 ; J. B. Mc- 
Master, History of the People of the United States, i. 525-604, ii. 1-567 ; A. B. 
Hart, Formation of the Union (Epochs of American History*), pp. 136-175 ; 
E. Channing, The United States, Chaps, v. and vi. 
Biographies. — See References to Chaps, vi. and ix. 

Special. — For Ordinance of 1787: Document, Old South Leaflets, No. 
13 ; B. A. Hinsdale, Old Northwest, pp. 255-316; W. F. Poole, North Amer- 
ican Review, April, 1876. For Inauguration of Washington : Century Maga- 
zine, April, 1889 ; Harper's Magazine, AjDril, 1889 ; Magazine of American 
History, December, 1888; February, April, May, 1889; Old South Leaflets, 
No. 10, Washington's Inaugurals ; Farewell Address : Old South Leaflets, 
No. 4 ; Washington's Funeral Oration : Old South Leaflets, No. 38. For 
Whiskey Insurrection : J. A. Stevens, Albert Gallatin, pp. 69-99 ; J. B. Mc- 
:\Iaster, History of the People of the United States, ii. 41-43, 189-204. For 
Party Feeling : J. Bryce, American Commonwealths, Chap. liii. ; A. John- 
ston, American Politics, pp. 35-37 ; Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, 
vii. Chap. v. For Jay's Treaty: G. Pellew, John Jay ; Winsor, Narrative and 
Critical History, vii. 466-491. For Alien and Sedition Laws, and Virginia 
and Kentucky Resolutions : A. Johnston, American Politics, pp. 43-47 ; E. D. 
Warfield, Kentucky Resolutions, 1798. For French Difficulties: D. C. Gil- 
man, James Monroe, pp. 44-69; Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, vii. 
471-476. For Elections of Adams and of Jefferson : E. Stanwood, History 
of Presidential Elections, pp. 24-44. For John Marshall : A. B. Magruder ; 
John Marshall, Century Magazine, September, 1889. 

153. Washington President; Starting the New Government. 
(1789.) — The 4tli of March was the day fixed upon for the 

144 



WASHINGTON PRESIDENT. 



145 



new government to go into operation, bnt so slow were the 
members of Congress in reaching New York, the place 
chosen, that it was the 6th of April before a quorum of 
both houses was present. On that day the electoral votes 
for President and Vice-President were counted in the 
presence of both houses, in Federal Hall, and the result offi- 
cially declared. George Washington, as had been expected, 
received a unanimous vote, and Avas accordingly chosen 




President. John Adams, receiving the next highest num- 
ber, was declared Vice-President. As soon as Washington 
received the official news of his election, which was carried 
to him by a special messenger, Charles Thomson, the secre- 
tary of the old Continental Congress, he set out from Mount 
Vernon for New York. His journey was a continuous tri- 
umphal procession ; " men, women, and children of all ages, 
classes, and conditions gathered by the roadside, and often 
stood in waiting for many hours to see him as he passed by." 
" Guns were fired, triumphal arches were erected, and flow- 



146 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

ers were strewn in the roads over which his carriage was to 
pass." He was most enthusiastically received at New York, 
but it was not until April 30th, six days after his arrival, 
that everything was ready for the inauguration. The cere- 
mony took place between the two central pillars of the bal- 
cony of Federal Hall, which stood on the corner of Wall and 
Broad streets, where the United States Sub-Treasury Build- 
ing now is. There, in the presence of Congress and of a 
great multitude of people, Washington took the oath of 
office, which was administered by Robert R. Livingston, 
chancellor of the state of New York. The union thus per- 
fected consisted of eleven states. 

154. Ordinance of 1787. — Meanwhile the old Continental 
Congress for a long time had done little that is worthy of 
mention ; but one act, passed while the constitutional con- 
vention was in session, deserves special notice. This is what 
is known as the ordinance of 1787, for organizing the North- 
west Territory. This Avas the territory which was ceded to 
the United States by Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, 
and Connecticut, and comprised the country north of the 
Ohio and east of the Mississippi. The chief provisions were 
that not less than three nor more than five states should be 
formed out of it ; that slavery should forever be prohibited 
within its borders; that there should be perfect religious 
freedom ; that schools and the means of education should be 
forever encouraged; and that the writ of habeas corpus 
and trial by jury should be guaranteed. A form of govern- 
ment was provided for, and the territory was divided into 
parts, but when each division had a population of 60,000, 
that division might become a state if certain conditions were 
complied with. This ordinance met the approval of the new 
Congress, and under its provision Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 



ORGANIZATION; REVENUE. 147 

Michigan, and Wisconsin have become states. It has also 
been the model for the organization of all the subsequent 
territories, though some of its provisions have been left out, 
notably that respecting slavery. Though it had been one of 
the most noteworthy assemblies that the world has ever seen, 
the Continental Congress closed its career unnoticed and 
almost in contemptuous neglect. Its history has never been 
written as it deserves to be. The last roll-call was on 
October 10, 1788. 

155. Organization. (1789.) — The first task which lay 
before the new Congress was the organization of the govern- 
ment. How successfully this was done is shown by the fact 
that the organization to-day is in all essential points un- 
changed from what was then established. Four of the 
executive departments were established during the first 
session : State, War, Treasury, and Justice. At the head 
of these Washington placed respectively Jefferson, Knox, 
Hamilton, and Randolph. As Chief Justice of the Supreme 
Court he appointed John Jay. Among other important 
measures which demanded the attention of Congress were 
amendments to the Constitution ; twelve Avere proposed ; 
most of them were intended to guard the rights and 
privileges of the people and those of the states. Ten 
of these, subsequently adopted (1791) by three-fourths 
of the states, became incorporated with the Constitution 
as the first ten Amendments. It may be safely said tliat 
these " took from the Union no power it ought ever to 
have exercised." 

156. Revenue. (1789.) — The next question was of the 
utmost importance, that of raising revenue. It Avas the 
subject which had really brought the adoption of the Con- 



148 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

stitution. Congress had now full power to carry it out. 
There are two main sources from which nations usually draw 
revenue : taxes on imports and taxes on domestic manufact- 
ures, and both of these were now used. It is interesting to 
note that in the " Tariff-for-revenue " act of this first Con- 
gress under the Constitution, the principle of protection to 
domestic manufactures was observed in the title of the bill, 
and that iron, hemp, cotton, salt, and other articles were 
slightly protected. A tax on the home manufacture of spirits 
was also provided for in 1791. The Ordinance of 1787 (sect. 
154) was confirmed. Before Congress met for the second 
session, North Carolina had ratified the Constitution, leaving 
Rhode Island to follow soon. 

157. The First Congress ; Capital. (1790.) — Among the 
measures passed at this session were a census act, a natural- 
ization act, a patent act, and a copyright act. But the most 
important measure of all was the plan proposed by Hamilton 
for paying the debt of the United States. The credit of the 
country was at its lowest, the interest on the debt of the old 
Confederacy was long overdue, while the holders of the 
obligations at home had almost given up the hope of being 
paid. Hamilton thought that nothing would help the country 
in the eyes of the world more than the payment of the 
foreign debt; he believed also that the Union would be 
greatly strengthened, not only by the payment of the domes- 
tic obligations, but also by the assumption by the government 
of the state debts as well. The total amount to be provided 
for, including back interest, was nearly eighty millions of 
dollars, a vast sum for those days. After much difficulty 
Hamilton's plan was carried, but only by means of a compro- 
mise in respect to the situation of the permanent capital of 
the nation. It was agreed that the South should give up her 




ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 



NEW STATES; ELI WHITNEY. 149 

opposition to the assumption of the state debts, and the 
North should allow the national capital to be on the banks of 
the Potomac. It was also agreed that the seat of govern- 
ment should be at Philadelphia until 1800, when it should be 
moved to the permanent site. 

158. New States ; Indian Wars. (1790-1794.) — At its third 
session the First Congress was called upon to exercise an- 
other important power — that of admitting new states to 
the Union, and acts were passed providing for the admission 
of Vermont and Kentucky, which were admitted in 1791 and 
1792 respectively. Meantime the settlers had been pushing 
their way westward, entering the territory which the Indian 
claimed as his own. Resenting this intrusion, tlie Indians 
attacked the settlements all along the frontier, and killed or 
carried into captivity hundreds of settlers. So numerous 
were these attacks that the government was forced to send 
troops to the frontier. Several of these expeditions were 
unsuccessful, and an army under General St. Clair was sur- 
prised and routed with great loss of life. It was not until 
1794, when General Wayne was sent against them, that the 
Indians were forced to submit, and to give up a large tract 
of land in return for a yearly payment of money and goods. 

159. Whiskey Insurrection ; (1794) ; Eli Whitney. — A new 

danger threatened the government. Among the acts of Con- 
gress was the passage of a law taxing whiskey. This tax 
the distillers in western Pennsylvania refused to pay, on the 
ground that they were treated unfairly, it being impossible 
for them to transport grain to market except at a loss, while 
in the form of whiskey it could be done at a profit. So 
threatening was their attitude, that Washington felt com- 
pelled to send some troops to Pittsburg. The promptness of 



150 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the government and the display of force was sufficient to 
restore order. This affair is known as the Whiskey Insur- 
rection. 

While the attention of the country was attracted by ques- 
tions of domestic and foreign policy, a young man of twenty- 
eight invented, in Georgia, a machine which was indirectly 
to influence the history of the country far more than the 
subjects then filling the popular mind. This was the cotton- 
gin. Eli Whitney was a native of Massachusetts, and had 

gone South for the purpose 
of teaching. He had already 
shown inventive abilities, 
and, while staying at the 
house of the widow of Gen- 
eral Greene, had his atten- 
tion called to the difificulty 
of separating the fibre of 
the cotton from the seed. 
He devised (1793) the cot- 
ton-gin, by means of which 
one person could clean one 
thousand pounds of cotton 
in a day. Formerly it took 
one day to clean one pound. This machine gave an enormous 
impetus to the raising of cotton, and this brought about a 
great demand for slave labor, by which it was supposed the 
plant could alone be successfully cultivated. The cultiva- 
tion of cotton rapidly became the chief staple of the south- 
ern states, the exports rising from eight bags in 1784 to 
21,000,000 pounds in 1801. The feeling against slavery soon 
almost disappeared in the South, and with few exceptions 
the system was upheld as a "positive good." Eli Whitney 
himself reaped comparatively little advantage from his great 




ELI WHITNEY. 



PARTY FEELING. 151 

invention, nearly all the money he received being spent in 
defending his patents. 

160. Party Feeling. (1789-1796.) — Washington, in form- 
ing his Cabinet, chose men from both parties ; thus, Hamil- 
ton, the leader of the Federalists, and Jefferson, the leader 
of the Anti-Federalists, were both members of it. It was 
not long before party spirit showed itself, and party lines 
were clearly drawn, and Washington's patience and skill 
were again put to a test in keeping the peace in the Cabinet, 
where, Jefferson says, " I and Hamilton were pitted against 
each other like fighting-cocks." In Congress, and in the 
country at large, public questions were also hotly discussed, 
and it is doubtful if party feeling ever ran higher in this 
country. The Federalists believed in a strong central gov- 
ernment ; that the power of the individual states should be 
greatly limited, and that of the central government corre- 
spondingly increased. The Anti-Federalists, or, as they now 
began to call themselves, the Democratic-Republicans, on the 
other hand, believed that the state governments should have 
all the power that was possible. They feared that local 
rights and privileges would be curtailed, and some of them 
even thought that the Federalists were trying to set up a 
monarchy. The Democratic-Republicans were strongest in 
the South ; the Federalists, in the North. The former were 
great admirers of everything French ; the latter were accused 
of sympathy with England and English institutions. 

161. Affairs in Europe. (1793.) — Meanwhile, affairs in 
Europe were very much disturbed. In France the reforming 
movement, which was felt in all Europe, stimulated by able 
writers, had culminated in a bloody revolution. The great 
majority of the inhabitants of the United States hailed this 



152 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

revolution with joy at first ; but soon the dreadful excesses 
which were committed in the name of liberty changed the 
feeling of Americans. The French had set up a republic, 
and expected that the United States would of course aid 
them in the war which had broken out between France and 
England. Washington and the more sober-minded men saw 
that the true policy of the United States was to keep out of 
European quarrels, and he announced that the country would 
be strictly neutral. The French republic had sent out as 
minister a man by the name of Genet, who disregarded 
Washington's proclamation, and proceeded to enlist men for 
the French army, and fit out privateers for the French ser- 
vice. Genet paid no attention to the remonstrances of the 
American government, and so Washington had to request his 
recall by the French. If this course had not been followed, 
war would have taken place with Great Britain. 

162. Jay's Treaty; Other Treaties. (1794-1796.) — France 
was not the only nation with which the United States had 
cause for complaint. Great Britain had not fulfilled part of 
the treaty of 1783, for she retained many of the western and 
northern posts, among them Detroit, Niagara, and Oswego, 
and had refused to make compensation for the negroes carried 
off at the end of the war; she also seized American vessels 
on the ocean on various pretexts. The reason of this course 
was that Great Britain did not believe in the permanency of 
the Confederation, nor in the power of the United States to 
resist. On the other hand. Great Britain complained that it 
was impossible for her citizens to collect their just debts in 
America. So strong was the feeling in America that war 
seemed inevitable. In the hope of averting this calamity, 
Wasliington sent John Jay to England to try to negotiate a 
treaty which would settle the causes of irritation. Jay was 



JAY'S TREATY. 



153 



at this time Chief Justice of the United States, but there 
was so little business before the Supreme Court that he could 
be absent for months without injury. He returned in 1795 
with the treaty which has since borne his name. It was 
severely criticised, for it did not abolish the right claimed 
by Great Britain to search American vessels for British sea- 
men, nor did it take away the cause for complaint in relation 
to trade with the West Indies. It did, however, provide for 
the giving up of the forts on the border, for commercial regu- 
lations, and for the settlement 
of debts. Jay's own defence 
was, that it was the best that 
could be done. Washington 
signed the treaty, and the re- 
sult showed the wisdom of his 
so doing. Bad as the treaty 
was in many respects, it averted 
a war, it settled several impor- 
tant matters, and it forced Eng- 
land to recognize the United 
States in a way she had not 
done hitherto. 

A treaty was made with 
Spain, fixing the boundaries between the United States and 
the Spanish possessions in America, granting free navigation 
of the Mississippi to each, and also making regulations as to 
commerce. Treaties were also made with Algiers and Tripoli, 
but at a cost of a yearly tribute to those powers. By these 
latter treaties, prisoners were released, and the United States 
commerce was to be unmolested. 




JOHN JAY. 



163. Washington's Farewell Address. (1796.) — As the 
close of his second term approached, Washington gave to 



154 ' HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the public his determination not to be a candidate a third 
time. Before resuming the position of a private citizen, for 
which he longed, he issued his Farewell Address, a document 
full of political wisdom and wise advice. The address is 
dated September 17, 1796, and was first printed in Claypole's 
American Daily Advertiser for September 19, 1796. Though 
Washington was assisted in its composition by Hamilton and 
others, there seems to be no doubt that, in all important 
respects, it was his own work. In it he exhorts the people to 
preserve the Union ; to avoid sectional feelings ; to avoid 
" overgrown military establishments, which under any form 
of government are inauspicious to liberty " ; to beware of 
hasty changes of the Constitution ; to guard against the 
excess of party spirit ; to make religion and morality the 
foundation of the government, remembering that " reason 
and experience forbid us to expect that national morality can 
prevail in exclusion of religious principles." He advises that 
the diffusion of knowledge should be promoted, and the pub- 
lic credit cherished, as being important sources of strength 
and security ; that good faith and credit should be observed 
towards all nations, but that the people should be " constantly 
awake against the insidious wiles of foreign influence," and 
that, in regard to foreign nations, the great rule should be, 
*' in extending our commercial relations, to have with them 
as little political connections as possible." 

164. Election of Adams. (1796.) ~ With the election of 
1796 began political strife for the office of President, for 
there had been no opposition to Washington. Now, however, 
a great deal of that party spirit Avas shown against which 
he had spoken in his Farewell Address. The Federalist 
electors voted for John Adams, the Vice-President ; and the 
Democratic-Republicans, for Thomas Jefferson. A majority 



DIFFICULTIES WITH FRANCE. 



155 



of the votes were for Adams, who was accordingly elected. 
Jefferson had the next highest number of votes, so he became 
Vice-President. A serious defect in the Constitution was 
now seen, in that it almost insured the election in future of 
a President and Vice-President from different parties. Such 
a state of affairs would tend to bring about a lack of har- 
mony in the administration, and in case of the death of the 
President, one who did not represent the views of the 
majority would succeed to the office. A change was made 
in the mode of electing in 1804. (See Appendix III., Con- 
stitution, Amendment xii.) 



165. Difficulties with France. (1797.) — Adams found the 
country in friendly relations with all foreign states except 
France, to which country Jay's 
treaty was very distasteful. 
The United States was charged 
with favoring Great Britain 
and granting her privileges 
denied to France ; the French 
minister in America was or- 
dered to return by the French 
Directory, and almost immedi- 
ately after the inauguration of 
Adams the American minister 
was refused recognition by the 
French government. Napoleon 
Bonaparte's great victories in Italy over the Austrian forces 
gave the French government confidence, and laAvs injurious 
to American commerce were passed, American vessels were 
seized, and the vessels and cargoes sold. 

Adams was anxious to avoid war. Following Washington's 
example, he sent a special mission to France, selecting John 




JOHN ADAMS. 



156 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Marshall, Elbridge Gerry, and Charles C. Pinckney as envoys, 
who were, if possible, to arrange matters, and negotiate a 
new treaty which would be satisfactory to both France and 
the United States. These envoys were treated with great 
indignity by the French government, and Avere told that be- 
fore any negotiations were begun a large sum of money must 
be paid to the Directory. Such a course was spurned by the 
envoys, who were soon ordered to leave France. This they 
did, and the United States government published the remark- 
able correspondence which had passed between the envo3^s 
and the secret agents of the Directory. This is known as the 
" X. Y. Z. correspondence." These papers and the report of 
the envoys had the effect of uniting the American people, 
and in accordance with the popular feeling. Congress pre- 
pared for war with France. The treaties witli her were 
declared revoked ; acts were passed to increase the army and 
navy, Washington being appointed commander of the former ; 
naval vessels were ordered to capture French armed ships, 
and under this order several French vessels were taken. 

166. Alien and Sedition Laws ; Virginia and Kentucky Reso- 
lutions. (1798-1799.) — The Federalists, always opposed to 
France and French influence, were greatly strengthened by 
the turn affairs had taken, and during the time of excitement 
had succeeded in passing through Congress two measures 
known as the Alien and Sedition Laws. The first allowed 
the President at his discretion to order out of the country 
any alien whom he should judge dangerous to the peace and 
safety of the United States ; and should any such refuse to 
go, he was, upon conviction, to be imprisoned. The Sedition 
law provided that those who should unlawfully combine or 
conspire against the government, or who should utter or pub- 
lish anything false, scandalous, or malicious against it, should 



TREATY WITH FRANCE. 157 

be imprisoned and heavily fined. These acts were to be 
in force for two and three years respectively. To the 
Democratic-Republicans both these laws were extremely dis- 
tasteful, but particularly the Sedition law ; this they charged 
with beinof a violation of the first amendment to the Consti- 
tution. As a protest against these measures, the legislatures 
of Virginia and Kentucky each passed a series of resolu- 
tions, respectively known as the Virginia and Kentucky 
Resolutions of 1798.^ Jefferson drafted those adopted by 
the Kentucky legislature, and Madison those adopted by the 
Virginia. Neither of these statesmen in after years took 
pride in his connection with these documents. The sub- 
stance of these documents was that these special acts of 
Congress were unconstitutional, and that whenever the 
Federal government went beyond its powers, the states 
should unite in refusing obedience. Apart from the doubtful 
constitutionality of the Alien and Sedition acts, they were 
exceedingly inexpedient, and proved the occasion of the 
downfall of the Federalist party. The President did not in 
a single instance make use of the Alien act, and the convic- 
tions under the Sedition act were not very many. Both acts 
expired by limitation. 

167. Treaty with France; Death of Washington. (1799- 
1801.) — Meanwhile, Adams had sent three new envoys to 
France who negotiated a new treaty with Napoleon Bon- 
aparte, who had become First Consul of France. This treaty 
(1801) was satisfactory to all except those who had lost 
property by the capture of vessels or in other ways. Such 
persons in both countries had to look to their own govern- 
ment to make good their losses. This is the origin of the so- 
called "French Spoliation Claims," which are still partly 

1 Kentucky added another resolution in 1799. 



158 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

unsettled, greatly to the discredit of the country. Party strife 
was for a short time held in check by the death of Washing- 
ton at Mount Vernon, December 14, 1799. The whole 
country mourned for him who was " first in war, first in 
peace, and first in the hearts of his fellow-citizens." In 
Europe his death was regarded as a loss to mankind, and 
tributes to his worth were published in every civilized 
country. 

168. The New Capital; Marshall. (1801.) — In 1800 the 
seat of government was moved to Washington on the 
Potomac, which had been chosen as the site of the new 
capital. The corner-stone of the Capitol building had been 
laid by Washington himself in 1791. For many years it was 
in fact what it had been called in jest, " a city of magnificent 
distances." Laid out on a very large scale, it was for seventy 
years only a straggling, ill-built town. 

In 1801 Adams appointed John Marshall Chief Justice of 
the United States in place of Oliver Ellsworth, who had 
resigned on account of ill health. For thirty-four years 
Marshall was at the head of the national judiciary, his influ- 
ence upon his associates was great, and the '' Constitution 
since its adoption owes more to him than to any other single 
mind for its true interpretation and vindication." 

169. Jefferson President. (1801.) — As the time came near 
for the election of a new President, it was evident that the 
Democratic-Republicans were in the majority, for the Fed- 
eralists had fallen greatly in public esteem by their ill-con- 
cealed distrust of the people at large, but especially by the 
passage of the Alien and Sedition acts. The candidate of 
the Democratic-Republicans was Thomas Jefferson ; of the 
Federalists, John Adams. When the electoral votes were 




JOHN MARSHALL. 



FEDERALIST INFLUENCE. 159 

counted, it was found that Jefferson and Burr, both Repub- 
licans, had a majority of the votes, but that each had received 
an equal number of votes. There was, therefore, no elec- 
tion, and by the Constitution the House of Representatives 
had to choose which should be President. The House, 
which had been elected two years before, had a Federalist 
majority, but were restricted in choice to candidates of the 
opposite party ;^ on the thirty-sixth ballot for President, Jef- 
ferson was chosen, and Aaron Burr became Vice-President. 

170. Federalist Influence. — The Federalists seldom, if ever, 
had a real popular majority, and it was due to the great 
influence of Washington, and the implicit confidence felt in 
him, and also, no doubt, to the skill of Hamilton and other 
party leaders, that the party had retained control of the 
government as long as it did. Short as was this control, it 
had a great and permanent influence upon the country, for 
under it our whole system of government was shaped and 
set in motion. The decisions of the Supreme Court, more- 
over, which were deservedly much influenced by Marshall, 
have been mainly on Federalist lines of thought, though 
there have been some great exceptions, since 1835, the year 
of Marshall's death. 

1 Constitution, Article II. sect. i. [3], 



CHAPTER IX. 

EXPERIMENTS IN FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC POLICY. 
REFERENCES. 

General. — R. Ilildreth, History of the United States, v. Chaps, xvi.- 
xix. ; vi. Chaps, xx.-xxiv. ; Bryant and Gay, Popular History of the United 
States, iv. 127-184 ; J. Schouler, History of the United States, ii. Chaps, v.- 
viii. ; T. W. Higginson, Larger History of the United States, pp. 333-380 ; 
A. B. Hart, Formation of tlie Union (Epochs of American History), Chaps, 
ix., X. ; Henry Adams, History of the L^nited States, 1801-1817 (the latest 
and fullest history of the period), vols, i.-vi. ; J. B. McMaster, History of 
the People of the United States, ii. 535-635 ; iii. 

Biographies. — American Statesmen Series, as in references to chapter 
VI., and also lives of J. Q. Adams, Clay, Calhoun, Randolph, Webster, and 
Jackson. In Makers of America Series, lives of Jefferson, Hamilton, and 
Robert Fulton ; James Parton, Life of Aaron Burr. 

Special. — For Louisiana Purchase: T. Donaldson, The Public Domain, 
pp. 89-105 ; D. C. Gilman, James Monroe, pp. 74-93 ; L. Carr, Missouri, 
pp. 36-116; C. F. Robertson, Papers of American Historical Association, i. 
No. 4, 1885; A. Johnston, American Orations, i. 143-160; J. R. Seeley, 
Expansion of England, First Course, Lecture viii. p. 157 (English edition). 
For Burr's Conspiracy : Henry A. Wise, Seveij Decades of the Union, pp. 
34-54 ; R. Hildreth, History of the United States, v. 594-626 ; A. B. Magru- 
der, John Marshall, pp. 202-231. For the Embargo : A. Johnston, American 
Politics, pp. 65-68. For Orders in Council and Berlin Decrees : B. Rand, 
P^conomic History since 1763, Chap. vi. For election of Jefferson and of 
Madison : E. Stanwood, History of Presidential Elections, pp. 45-56. 

171. Jefferson inaugurated. (1801.) — The inaugural ad- 
dress of Jefferson was awaited with the greatest curiosity, 
and to the surprise of all it was a calm, dignified document, 
in which he foretold confidently that the great experiment 
of government which the people of the United States were 

160 



AGREEMENTS BETWEEN SPAIN AND FRANCE. 161 

trying Avould be a success. He said that, " though the will of 
the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will, to be rightful, 
must be reasonable, that the minority possess their equal 
rights. . . . Every difference of opinion is not a difference 
of principle. . . . We are all Republicans, we are all Feder- 
alists." Jefferson's policy was : (1) To pay the debt as sdon 
as practicable ; (2) To keep out of foreign politics ; (3) To 
introduce as much simplicity as possible into the methods 
and routine of government. Though Jefferson advocated sim- 
plicity in public life, at his own home he lived in the style 
of other Virginia gentlemen. It is interesting to note that 
all his Cabinet were men " of liberal and cultivated tastes." 

172. Agreements between Spain and France. (1802.) — By 

the treaty of 1763, in which France gave up her possessions 
in America to England, Spain had acquired all the country 
west of the Mississippi, and in 1783 the Floridas were re- 
stored to her. There had been numerous disputes between 
Spain and the United States, both in regard to boundaries 
and the navigation of the Mississippi. Soon after Jefferson 
came into office it was learned that Spain had by secret 
treaty, in 1800, transferred her Louisiana possessions to 
France. In 1802 the Spanish governor of Louisiana, pend- 
ing the formal transfer of the province to France, forbade 
the storage by foreigners of merchandise at New Oileans. 
This right of deposit, as it was called, had been given to the 
United States by previous treaty, and the refusal at once 
caused great excitement in the west ; it w^as, moreover, a 
very different thing to have France a neighbor instead of 
having weak Spain. Jefferson accordingly gave instructions 
to the minister to France to procure the cession of New 
Orleans to the United States, b}^ purchase if possible, and 
also sent Monroe as a special envoy to Paris. 



162 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

173. Louisiana bought. (1803.) — At first Napoleon would 
have nothing to do with the scheme, as he had vast plans of 
colonization of his own. But soon the relations between 
France and England were such that a renewal of the war was 
imminent, and he needed money ; and aware that he could 
not hold Louisiana against England's strong naval power, 
he suddenl}^ determined to offer to the United States, not 
New Orleans onl}^ but the whole province as it had been ceded 
from Spain. Though the American envoys had no authority 
to do more than negotiate for the purchase of New Orleans 
and territory east of the Mississippi, they assumed the respon- 
sibility of accepting this offer, as tliey recognized the vast im- 
portance of such an acquisition of territory. Tlie bargain was 
concluded, and the treaty was signed April 30, 1803. By 
the terms of this treaty the United States was to pay France 
a sum of about $15,000,000. About one fourth of this sum, 
however, was to satisfy claims of American citizens on 
France. The exact boundaries of the purchase Avere not 
known, and in point of fact were not settled for many years. 

The action of the envoys was pleasing to the great majority 
of the citizens of the United States, though many of the 
Federalists opposed it on the ground that it was unconstitu- 
tional, and others because they thought the country was too 
large already. Jefferson, a " strict constructionist," believed 
that it would be needful to pass an amendment to the Con- 
stitution, but did not press the matter ; and since that day no 
one has questioned the right of the nation to acquire terri- 
tory b}^ purchase. Congress approved of the measure at a 
special session by a large majority. Possession was taken 
December 20, 1803. This, "probably the largest transaction 
in real estate the world has ever known," delighted the 
western settlers and pleased the people at large ; but hardly 
any one could have had an idea of its vast importance to the 



LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION. 163 

future welfare of the country. By a most wonderful com- 
bination of circumstances the area of the United States was 
doubled in extent, and the country given the opportunity to 
expand without fear of foreign enemies ; scarcely ever has a 
stroke of the pen accomplished more.^ 

174. Lewis and 'Clark Expedition. (1804-1806.) — In 1804 
Jefferson sent two officers of the army, Meriwether Lewis and 
William Clark, with an expedition to explore the country of 
the Louisiana Purchase, especially the northern and north- 
western parts. They followed the Missouri River towards its 
source, crossed the Rocky Mountains, and discovering part 
of the upper Columbia River, followed it to the Pacific Ocean. 
Their whole trip took about three years, and a narrative of 
their expedition was published on their return. The claim of 
the United States to the territory out of which Oregon and 
Washington territories were afterwards formed, was chiefly 
based on this discovery of Lewis and Clark, and on the fact 
that in 1792 a Boston trader, Robert Gray, had visited the 
mouth of a Viver, which he called the Columbia after one of 
his vessels. 

175. War with Barbary States. (1801-1804.) — There had 

been much trouble with the Barbary States; their pirates 
attacked American shipping, seized the cargoes, destroyed 
the vessels, and sold the crews into slavery. For many years 
the United States, like some of the nations of Europe, paid a 
yearly tribute to escape injury to her commerce. The pirates 
became more and more exacting in their demands, until in 
1801 the Dey of Tripoli, incensed at the rejection of his 

1 The boundaries of Louisiana were very indefinite, the western portion of 
the territory being an unknown region both to France and the United States. 
It is now recognized that Oregon was not a part of the purchase. Spain 
claimed it until 1819, when she gave up the claim in the Florida treaty. 



164 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

demand for increased tribute, declared war against the United 
States. This war dragged on until 1804, when the govern- 
ment sent a larger naval force to the Mediterranean and 
compelled Tripoli to make a treaty of peace, the most satis- 
factory ever wrung from a Barbary state up to that time. 
It was not, however, until 1815 that these pirates were finally 
suppressed. 

176. Rotation in Office ; Naturalization ; Ohio admitted. (1802-3.) 

— Though the practice of rotation in office was followed 
under the Confederation, and many in the Democratic- 
Republican party approved of it, Jefferson removed very few 
(twenty-six in all) of the Federal officials whom he found in 
office. He himself said '' I will return with joy to that state 
of things when the only question concerning a candidate 
shall be : Is he honest ? Is he capable ? Is he faithful to the 
Constitution ? " 

In 1802 a new naturalization law was passed, requiring a 
residence of five years before an alien can become a citizen 
of the United States. (This time is still required, 1896.) 
Internal taxes were done away with in the same year, but in 
consequence of the Tripolitan war the duties on imports were 
increased. Ohio, the first state formed out of the Northwest 
Territory, and the seventeenth of the Union, was admitted 
in the year 1803. Its growth was remarkable, for the first 
distinctively American settlement was that of Marietta in 
1788, and in 1800 the population of Ohio was 45,365. So 
favorable were the conditions of g-rowth that in 1820 this state 
took its place as fifth in point of population, and from the 
census of 1840 until that of 1890 it was surpassed by New 
York and Pennsylvania only. 

177. Hamilton and Burr. — In the summer of 1804 the 
country was startled by the news that Alexander Hamilton 




THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



JEFFERSON RE-ELECTED. 165 

had been killed in a duel by Aaron Burr, the Vice-President. 
The prominence of the men increased the horror felt in 
regard to such a barbarous custom. Burr had already become 
unpopular and distrusted by his party, and so had not been 
renominated for Vice-President. This disappointed man col- 
lected a force of men, either for the purpose of setting up 
a government of his own within the Louisiana Territory, or 
for attacking the Spanish possessions. In 1807 he was 
arrested on a charge of treason, and was taken to Richmond, 
Virginia, for trial before Judge Marshall, but the prosecution 
failed for want of evidence, as well as for want of jurisdiction. 
Disgraced and ruined, he soon disappeared from public view, 
and died in neglect and poverty in 1836. 

178. Jefferson re-elected; Public Improvements. (1805.) — 

Jefferson was renominated for President in 1804, with George 
Clinton of New York as candidate for Vice-President. The 
Federalists nominated C. C. Pinckney of South Carolina and 
Rufus King of New York. In accordance with the twelfth 
amendment of the Constitution, ratified September 25, 1804, 
the electors cast separate ballots for President, and Vice- 
President respectively. Jefferson and Clinton were chosen 
by a very large majority, the Federalists only receiving 14 
out of 176 electoral votes. 

At the beginning of Jefferson's second term everything 
seemed in a highly prosperous state, the country was increas- 
ing rapidly in wealth and population, and the debt was being 
paid off at a rate which would soon extinguish it. The Presi- 
dent suggested in his inaugural that an amendment should 
be made to the Constitution to provide for the just division 
among the states of the surplus revenue to be applied to 
objects of public improvement, such as " rivers, canals, roads, 
arts; manufactures, education, and other great objects within 



166 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

each state." Congress, however, believed that the power to 
appropriate money for public improvements was given or 
implied in the Constitution, and it exercised this assumed 
power in voting money in 1806 for a national road west from 
Cumberland in the state of Maryland. In view of the 
enormous sums voted for public improvements in late years, 
especially in the periodical '' River and Harbor Bill," and the 
tendency to seek national aid in almost every enterprise, it is 
interesting to remember that the legality of such a measure 
was once seriously called in question. An extensive plan of 
improvement was projected, but, owing to unexpected circum- 
stances, was not carried out. In 1807, in accord with the 
Constitution (Art. I., sect. 9), Congress passed a bill prohib- 
iting the foreign slave trade after January 1, 1808.^ 

179. Affairs in Europe ; Napoleon. (1804-1807.) — Though 
affairs were prosperous at home, things were very different 
in Europe. Napoleon Bonaparte, in 1804, became Emperor 
of France, and the war with Great Britain was prosecuted 
with greater vigor than ever. For a time the United States 
had profited greatly by this state of things, for, being a 
neutral power, her ships could trade with all belligerent 
nations, and in this way much of the carrying trade of the 
world fell into her hands, bringing wealth to her citizens. 
But Great Britain resolved to put a stop to this neutral trade, 
and in 1806 issued a proclamation, declaring that all the 
ports in Europe between Brest and the mouth of the river 
Elbe were closed, or blockaded, and warning all vessels not 
to atternpt to enter them. Napoleon retaliated by his Berlin 
Decree, which declared the British Isles to be in a state of 

1 Notwithstanding this law, it is estimated that about 15,000 negroes were 
surreptitiously brought into the country every year by men of all sections, 
who, for the love of gain, engaged in the nefarious trade. • 



INJURIES TO AMERICAN COMMERCE. 167 

blockade, forbade France or any of her allies to trade with 
them, and ordered the confiscation of all British merchandise. 
England, in 1807, met this decree with her '' Orders in Coun- 
cil," by which she declared all ports blockaded from which 
the British flag was excluded, and prohibited a neutral from 
selling ships to the belligerent power, and forbade all vessels 
to trade with France or any of her allies. This restricted 
American commerce to England and Sweden. Napoleon 
again retaliated with his Milan Decree, in which he declared 
any vessel a lawful prize which obeyed the English " Orders 
in Council." 

180. Injuries to American Commerce. (1807.) — Between 
France and England the American commerce suffered 
greatly ; for, if a vessel went to Europe, unless she touched 
at an English port and paid dues or taxes on her cargo, 
she ran the risk of being taken by English men-of-war; 
while, if she followed this course, she ran the risk of being 
seized by the French, should she attempt to enter any 
Continental port. Besides this, England claimed the right 
to stop all vessels to see if there were any British sailors 
on board; if any were found, these were seized, or im- 
pressed, as it was called, taken on board the war vessel, 
and compelled to serve in the British navy. England had 
long claimed this right, and it may be remembered that Jay 
had vainly tried to get England to abandon this claim when 
he negotiated his treaty in 1795. As the American commerce 
increased, these impressments became more frequent, and the 
English officers more and more overbearing in their actions, 
until at length the British frigate Leopard stopped the United 
States frigate Chesapeake^ oft' the Chesapeake Bay, when in 
no condition to fight, and by force compelled her commander 
to give up four of his men whom the British captain claimed 



168 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

to be British citizens. This gross indignity was resented by 
all Americans, and almost precipitated war. It was not until 
1811 that reparation for this outrage was offered and accepted. 

181. Embargo. (1807-1809.) — Jefferson soon issued a 
proclamation warning British cruisers not to enter American 
ports ; and called an extra session of Congress to decide what 
should be done. Jefferson, greatly averse to war, for which 
he knew the country was in no condition, recommended what 
he thought would be most effectual under any circumstances 
— an embargo. Congress acted promptly on this suggestion, 
and passed the Embargo Act of 1807. This act forbade the 
departure of any vessel for an}^ foreign port ; foreign vessels 
were forbidden to load in American ports ; and vessels in 
the coasting trade were required to give bond that they 
would not trade outside the United States. This experi- 
ment was a total failure. '' American shipping ceased to 
exist, American commerce was annihilated, American sea- 
men were forced to seek employment under the British 
flag, and British ships and British commerce alone occu- 
pied the ocean." The opposition to this measure first 
came from New England, whose citizens were chiefly inter- 
ested in commerce. They saw thefr chief means of support 
destroyed at a blow ; and, after ineffectual attempts to get 
this act repealed, they gradually turned their attention to 
other pursuits, and manufacturing became their chief interest, 
rendering them to a large degree independent of the sea. In 
the southern and agricultural states the effect of the embargo 
came more slowly, but was severely felt, for they found that a 
foreign outlet for iheir crops was essential to prosperity. So 
in 1809 Congress was compelled to modify its former action 
by what is known as the Nou-intercourse Act. This removed 
all restrictions except as regarded England and France. 



MADISON; ROBERT FULTON; TECUMSEH. 



169 



182. Madison President ; Robert Fulton ; Tecumseh. (1808- 
1811.) — The Embargo Act was the one great error of Jeffer- 
son's administration ; but, in spite of its unpopularity, the 
Republicans in the Presidential election of 1808 elected tlieir 
candidates, James Madison of Virginia and George Clinton 
of New York, by a large majority of electoral votes. Madi- 
son, who has been called the "Father of the Constitution," 
from the large share he took in bringing about the Constitu- 
tional Convention, the promi- 
nent position he held in that 
body, and his advocacy of the 
adoption of the document, was 
a man of wide acquirements, 
particularly in legal and poli- 
tical sciences, but possessing 
a theoretical and constructive 
mind rather than an executive 
one. His occupancy of the 
Presidential chair is the least 
attractive part of his political 
career, and his lack of execu- 
tive ability was very evident 
during his first term of office. 

It was during Jefferson's administration that one of the 
greatest inventions of modern times was brought to public 
view. Robert Fulton, born in Penns3dvania, of Irish parent- 
age, after being a portrait painter, then a civil engineer and an 
inventor, had his attention turned towards the steam-engine, 
and devised a steamboat. With the pecuniary assistance of 
Robert R. Livingston of New York, he built a steamboat in 
Paris, which was apparently a failure. Not discouraged, an 
attempt was made again in 1807, this time in New York. 
The Qlermont^ as the vessel was called, started from New 




ROBERT FULTON. 



170 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



York, amid the jeers of the lookers-on, for Albany. The 
crowd soon applauded, however, for the experiment was a 
perfect success, the Clermont keeping on at the rate of five 
miles an hour. Though others, notably John Fitch in Penn- 
sylvania in 1788, had attempted to propel vessels by steam 
and Imd been partially successful, to Fulton belongs the 
credit of inventing the first really practical steamboat. Had 
Fitch had the encouragement and the financial backing 




THE "CLERMONT. 



which Fulton received, he might have anticipated the later 
invention. 

In 1811 a war broke out between the Indians of Indiana 
Territory and the United States. British agents were be- 
lieved to have stirred up the red men and to have helped 
them. The Indians, in the absence of Tecumseh, their chief, 
were totally defeated by General William Henry Harrison at 
Tippecanoe, near the modern city of Lafayette, Indiana. 

Louisiana was admitted as a state in 1812. Many opposed 
this action, partly on the ground that the country was 
"already too extensive for a republican form of govern- 
ment." 



CHAPTER X. 



WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 



I 



REFERENCES. 

General. — R. Hildreth, History of the United States, vi. Chaps, xxv.- 
XXX. ; J. Schouler, History of the United States, ii. Chaps, viii., ix. ; H. 
Adams, History of the United States, vols, vi.-ix. ; Bryant and Gay, Popu- 
lar History of the United States, iv. 185-244 ; B. J. Lossing, Field-Book of 
the War of 1812 ; T. Roosevelt, Naval War of 1812 ; R. Johnson, History of 
the War of 1812 ; T. W. Higginson, Larger History of the United States, pp. 
360-380; E. Channing, The United States, pp. 184-197 ; J. R. Green, Short 
History of the English People, Chap, x., sect. iv. ; J. F. Bright, History of 
England, iii. 1325 ; Magazine of American History, xxix. 417. 

Biographies. — References as in preceding chapter, also A. McLaughlin. 
Lewis Cass ; J. Parton, Andrew Jackson, Great Commanders Series. 

Special. — Presidential Elections: E. Stanwood, History of Presidential 
Elections, pp. 57-69 ; The War, and Peace of Ghent, C. Schurz, Henry Clay, 
i. 67-125 ; Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, vi. 376-406 ; 482-488 ; H. 
A. Wise, Seven Decades of the Union, pp. 55-64. 

' 183. Declaration of War. (1812.) — The 

majority of the people, except in New 
England, clamored for war with Eng- 
land. Madison, in his message to Con- 
gress of June 1, 1812, set forth the 
grievances of th^ United States against 
Great Britain. These were : the impress- 
ment of American seamen ; violation of 
neutral rights on the American coast by 
the British cruisers ; the British " Orders in Council " ; and 
the inciting the Indians against the United States. On June 

171 




JAMES MADISON. 



172 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

18, 1812, Congress passed an act declaring war against Great 
Britain. Only five days later England repealed the '' Orders 
in Council," so injurious to American commerce. It is un- 
likely that even if Congress had known of England's purpose 
the declaration would have been withheld, for the party in 
power were eager to fight, and besides, there was no assurance 
that the impressment of seamen would be given up. How 
great was this impressment may be seen from the statement 
that at one time the names of 6000 men who had been thus 
seized were on file in the Department of State. The extent 
of the injury done to the commerce is shown by the fact 
that between 1803 and 1812, on various pretexts, more than 
900 vessels had been captured by British cruisers. 

184. The United States ill-prepared for War. (1812.) — The 

country was ill-prepared for war with any nation, least of all 
with Great Britain, whose navy numbered about 1000 vessels, 
while that of the United States could only muster twelve 
moderate sized vessels besides some useless gunboats, relics 
of Jefferson's administration. The land forces were ridic- 
ulously inadequate, undisciplined, miserably equipped, and 
officered by incompetent men. Though the navy was so 
small, the vessels Avere the best of their class afloat, and were 
well armed. The officers and men were skilful and well 
trained by experience in the Tripolitan war. These two 
facts explain the British successes on land and the American 
victories on the water. The country plunged rashly into a 
war which, like most wars, resulted in little which could not 
have been gained by negotiation. ^ 

185. American Failures ; Perry's Victory. (1812-1813.) — 

Congress quickly authorized military preparations. The 
plan of operation was to attack Canada and defend the 
coast. Henry Dearborn, an officer of the Revolution and 



AMERICAN NAVAL VICTORIES. 178 

Secretary of War under Jefferson, was made senior major- 
general. To General William Hull, the governor of Michi- 
gan Territory, another Revolutionary man, was intrusted the 
conduct of the invasion of Canada on the west. He soon 
surrendered Detroit, the key position of the west, without a 
blow in its defence, and with it the whole of Michigan Ter- 
ritory fell into the hands of the British.^ An attempt to 
invade Canada by crossing the Niagara River was also a com- 
plete failure. Dearborn early in 1813 personally led an 
expedition against York, now Toronto ; but, after destroying 
some supplies and unwisely burning the government build- 
ings, retreated to New York, and soon after resigned his 
position. General William Henry Harrison, to whom had 
been given the command of the army of the west, tried to 
recover Detroit, but was unsuccessful. In the fall of 1813 
Captain Oliver H. Perry, who had built a small navy on 
Lake Erie, completely defeated the British naval force near 
Sandusk}^ thus opening the way for Harrison's army to* ad- 
vance again upon Detroit, capture it, and pass into Canada. 
Soon after, meeting the combined Indian and British forces 
near the river Thames, Harrison routed them in battle, and 
Tecumseh, the Indian chief, was killed. This victory restored 
Michigan and the Northwest to the United States, and put 
an end to the war in that part of the country. 

The skill of the American naval officers and the excellence 
of the American seamen and vessels were equally manifest on 
the ocean. During 1812 and 1813 the British Avere greatly 
surprised at a number of naval victories by the American 

1 Hull was tried by court-martial for this act, found guilty of cowardice, 
and was condemned to be shot. He was, however, pardoned by President 
Madison in consideration of his services during the Revolutionary War. 
Hull published a defence in 1824. Many believe that his sentence was too 
severe, while some think it was altogether unjust, holding he was made to 
suffer for the shortcomings of others. 



174 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

ships. The capture of an English man-of-war was so unusual 
that the success of the Americans at sea almost made up for 
the disastrous failures on land. While in not a few instances 
the advantage of size was in favor of the Americans, their suc- 
cess was mainly due to their superior seamanship and disci- 
pline. The people of the United States were greatly elated 
over these victories, and several of the sayings of the naval 
captains, such as, "Don't give up the ship," and " We have 
met the enemy, and they are ours," became watchwords dur- 
ing the war. One of the most successful frigates was the 
Cofistitution, which received the name of " Old Ironsides." ^ 

186. The Creek War ; Jackson. (1813-1814.) — During the 
year 1813, incited by the influence of Tecumseh and British 
and Spanish emissaries, the Creek Indians in southwestern 
Georgia and in Alabama, led by a chief named Weathers- 
ford, a half-breed, had surprised and taken Fort Mims, near 
the junction of the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers. The 
garrison and most of those who had taken refuge in the fort, 
including many women and children, in all over 400, were 
cruelly put to death. Expeditions Avere soon organized, and 
after two campaigns the Indians were conquered, the whites 
showing no quarter, and seemingly trying to surpass the red 
men in cruelty. Andrew Jackson was chief commander in 
these expeditions, and his success in this Creek war made 
him one of the most prominent generals in the country. A 
great number of the Creek Indians were killed, and, as usual, 
the survivors were forced to give up most of their lands and 
move farther west. 

187. American Success ; British Plans. (1814.) — Taught by 
their reverses, the Americans set about reorganizing their 

1 This vessel having been repaired so many times as to be really another 
ship, is still (1893) in the navy. 



I 




THK WAIl IN THE SOUTH 



llefereuce Maps for the WAR OF 1812 



CAPTURE OF WASHINGTON. 175 

armies, and, under the instructions of Winfield Scott, a 
young officer, and others, the troops greatly improved in 
discipline and confidence. Several victories ov^er the British 
in Canada were the results of this training. Chippewa, 
Lundy's Lane, and Fort Erie, all in the neighborhood of 
Niagara Falls, were the chief successes ; but, as the United 
States troops had to retreat across the river Niagara, no real 
advantage was gained. Later the British invaded the United 
States by way of Lake Champlain, but were defeated at the 
naval battle of Plattsburg. Peace had now been made in 
Europe by the success of the allied forces against Napoleon, 
who was compelled to abdicate, and was banished to the 
island of Elba. This enabled England to send more men 
and more vessels to America. So many ships were sent that 
the whole coast from Maine to Florida was blockaded, and 
the United States vessels found it a hard matter to get in 
and out of ports. The plan of the English was to invade 
the country from three points : on the north, on the Atlantic 
coast, and on the south. The attack from the north had 
been so far a failure. 

It was also, in connection with the attack upon the Atlan- 
tic seaboard, a part of the British plan to make descents at 
various places, in order to keep the Americans in a state of 
continual fear and uncertainty. All along the coast descents 
were made, the larger towns being avoided on account of 
their better defences. In this way Stonington, Connecticut, 
Lewes, Delaware, Havre de Grace, Maryland, and other places 
were plundered. Maine, as far as the Penobscot River, was 
seized and held by the British until the end of the war. 

188. Capture of Washington. (1814.) — The chief attack 
was that made upon the city of Washington late in the sum- 
mer of 1814. A strong fleet accompanied by an army of 



176 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

about 4500 men, under General Ross, appeared in Chesapeake 
Bay in July. The forces were landed at Benedict, near the 
mouth of the Patuxent River, and marched towards the 
capital. No resistance was made until Bladensburg, a short 
distance from Washington, was reached. Here a force of 
about 6000 men, consisting of a few regular troops and 
marines, and militia was hastily drawn up to defend Wash- 
ington. But the militia were without training, the authority 
was divided and in the hands of incompetent men, so the 
battle speedily ended in a rout. The British followed and 
entered Washington, burnt the Capitol and most of the gov- 
ernment buildings. So hasty was the flight of the Americans, 
that Mrs. Madison, the wife of the President, gathered up 
some of the silver in her reticule as she fled from the White 
House, and the British " ate up the very dinner, and drank 
the wine, etc., . . . prepared for the President's party." 

189. British repulsed at Baltimore. (1814.) — The loss 
from a money point of view was very great, but was nothing 
in comparison with the loss of public records, which could 
not be replaced. This action of the British has always been 
viewed as an act of barbarism, for which the burning of the 
Parliament House in York, Toronto, by General Dearborn 
(sect. 185) offered the only justification. But there was this 
difference, the one was done on the responsibility of the 
general, while the other was done under strict orders from 
the British government. After burning the city, the English 
forces retreated and shortly after attempted to take the city 
of Baltimore. But the attack was successfully repelled at 
North Point, a few miles below the city, and a bombardment 
of Fort Mc Henry by the fleet also proved a failure.^ 

1 During this bombardment, Francis Scott Key, a Baltimorean, who had 
gone to the British fleet to negotiate for the release of prisoners and was 
detained by the British, wrote the song "The Star-spangled Banner." 



HARTFORD CONVENTION; NEW ORLEANS. 177 

190. The Hartford Convention. (1814.) — The war having 
been all along very unpopular in New England, the many 
failures, the destruction of trade, and the apparent hopeless- 
ness of the conflict, led a number of disaffected men to 
suggest a convention to discuss the state of the country, 
particularly of the eastern states. Delegates from Massachu- 
setts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, and from parts of 
Vermont and New Hampshire, in all twenty-six, met at 
Hartford, Connecticut, in secret session for three weeks, 
and then, after preparing a paper for publication, adjourned 
subject to call. The members were all Federalists, and the 
secrecy of the proceedings and the intensity of the party 
feeling at the time, made the convention so unpopular that 
it was a final bloAv to the party. Many of their political 
enemies believed that the convention plotted secession, but 
the real intentions of the leaders in the movement have never 
been thoroughly explained and no complete report of its pro- 
ceedings was ever published. Seven amendments to the 
Constitution, all prohibitory in their character, and resem- 
bling the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 and 
1799, and also the South Carolina Nullification Act of 1832, 
were recommended. Before the committee which had been 
appointed to confer with the government reached Wash- 
ington, peace had been declared, and the whole movement 
brought nothing but political ruin on all engaged in it. 

191. Southern Campaign ; New Orleans. (1814-1815.) — The 
third attack of the British was in the south. Spain was at 
peace with the United States, but friendly to England, and 
there had been several conflicts between the Spaniards and 
the American forces. The British had occupied Pensacola, 
but Jackson had driven them from it and handed it over to 
the Spaniards. He hastened to the defence of New Orleans, 



178 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

for he was sure that it was the objective point of the British. 
Jackson's army was made up largely of frontiersmen, well 
trained in border conflicts, but knowing little of military 
tactics and discipline. The British were men who had been 
in Wellington's armies, and were under the command of 
skilful generals. In the preparation for defence Jackson 
showed the greatest energy and forethought; he threw up 
barricades of cotton bales, and called upon all citizens to aid, 
and among those who responded were many free negroes. 

192. British repulsed at New Orleans. (1815.) — The 
British finally made an attack on the 8th of January, 1815, 
and, after a severe battle, were repulsed with great slaughter, 
the general in command being killed, and about 2500 men 
killed, wounded, or missing. On the American side Jackson 
officially rejjorted a loss of seventy-one only. The British 
forces retreated, abandoning the expedition. The only result 
of this battle was the great loss of life, and the balm it afforded 
the wounded pride of the Americans at losing so many 
battles earlier in the war, for peace had been declared two 
weeks before the battle of New Orleans, though the news 
had not reached the United States. 

193. Peace of Ghent. (1814.) — As early as 1813 Russia 
had tried to act as mediator between the United States and 
Great Britain, and the effort had been twice repeated with- 
out avail. But early in 1811 five commissioners were 
appointed to go to Europe for the purpose of treating with 
England. For some time the prospects for peace Avere 
gloomy ; but the success of the allied armies against Napo- 
leon, the capture of Paris, and the abdication of the French 
Emperor, while releasing many troops which could be sent 
to America, at the same time took away any pretext for the 



WAR WITH ALGIERS. 179 

impressment of sailors and for the obnoxious " Orders in 
Council." Late in the summer of 1814 the English and 
American commissioners me-t at Ghent, now in Belgium, and 
after long negotiations agreed upon a treaty of peace which 
was speedily approved by the British government and sent 
to America for ratification. In this treaty everything was 
restored as far as possible to the state which had existed 
before the war ; not a word was said about the impressment 
of sailors nor the " Orders in Council," which were the occa- 
sion of the conflict, and the important questions relating to 
the navigation of the Mississippi and the Newfoundland 
fisheries were left to future consideration. Both parties, 
however, did agree to* do their best to put an end to the 
slave trade. 

If the English were ready for peace, the Americans were 
eager for it, and the news of the treaty was enthusiastically 
received; Congress quickly ratified the treaty, and so the 
war came to an end. With the exception of the naval glory, 
the Americans had gained little or nothing, and had lost 
millions of money in military expenses and in the utter pros- 
tration of commerce, and many thousands of lives had been 
sacrificed. There is little doubt that a better treaty could 
have been made with England before the war than the one 
which was made after it. 

194. War with Algiers. (1815.) — The United States had 
not quite done with fighting, however; for the Dey of 
Algiers had taken advantage of the war with England to 
declare war and to capture some American vessels. In the 
summer of 1815 an expedition under Commodore Decatur 
was sent to Algiers, and after the capture of two Algerine 
ships the Dey signed a treaty of peace, in which he agreed to 
release all captives, make indemnities for past captures, and 



180 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 

to give up forever any claim on the United States for tribute 
or presents, and to promise not to reduce prisoners of war 
to slavery. Tunis and Tripoli were likewise visited by 
Decatur, and compelled to promise to observe their former 
treaties. No further trouble was experienced from the Bar- 
bary States. 

195. Charter of a National Bank. (1816.) — The war was 

at an end, but the finances of the country were in a bad way. 
The national debt was about 1127,000,000, 180,000,000 of 
which had been the cost of the war ; trade was for the time 
almost ruined, no gold or silver money was to be seen, and 
every interest was depressed. In order to restore specie pay- 
ments and improve the finances, a new National Bank was 
chartered by Congress in 1816 for twenty years. This bank 
was to have branches through the country, and the public 
funds were to be deposited in it and its branches. These 
deposits, however, could be withdrawn when the Secretary of 
the Treasury thought best, but he was to give Congress his 
reasons for such action. The capital of the bank was to be 
$35,000,000, and to this the United States was a large con- 
tributor, and was represented in the board of directors. The 
first United States bank, suggested by Hamilton, ^ had been 
closed on the expiration of its charter in 1811, and it is inter- 
esting to observe that Hamilton's political opponents felt 
themselves obliged in 1816 to follow his example when they 
found themselves in somcAvhat similar circumstances. What- 
ever may have been the opinion later as to its operations, there 
seems to be no doubt that the second Bank of the United 

1 Part of Hamilton's scheme for improving the financial condition of the 
country (sect. 157) was the establishment of a national bank. After much 
discussion, this recommendation was adopted and a bank chartered in 1791 
for twenty years. 



ELECTION OF MONROE. 181 

States did good service for some time after its establishment, 
though it was not as ably conducted as the former bank. 

196. Election of Monroe. (1816.) — In the Presidential 
caucus, a meeting of the United States' senators and con- 
gressmen in 1815, Monroe was nominated as the successor 
of Madison, with Daniel D. Tompkins, of New York, as 
Vice-President. James Monroe, born in Virginia, 1758, had 
served in the Revolution with credit, and had filled many 
offices both in state and national politics ; he had been envoy 
to France, Spain, and England ; he was active in the 
Louisiana Purchase ; was Madison's Secretary of State, and 
in the darkest hour of the late war had assumed the charge 
of the War Department as well. He was probably the best 
man that could have been selected. At the election he 
received an overwhelming majority of the Electoral College ; 
the Federalists nominated Rufus King, of New York, but did 
not go to the trouble of putting any one forward as candidate 
for Vice-President. From this time the Federalist party 
ceased to exist under that name, though many of the Demo- 
cratic-Republicans were really Federalists in their views, and 
were only waiting a new issue to form a new party. 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE THIRTY YEARS' PEACE. 
REFERENCES. 

General. — James Schoiiler, History of the United States, ii. Chap, 
ix., iii. Chaps, x.-xii. ; R. Hildreth, History of the United States, vi. 575-718 
(to 1821) ; Bryant and Gay, Popular History of the United States, iv. 244- 
281 ; G. F. Tucker, The Monroe Doctrine ; J. L. Bishop, History of American 
Manufactures ; E. Channing, The United States, pp. 197-207. 

Biographies. — American Statesmen Series : D, C. Gihnan, James 
Monroe ; J. T. Morse, Jr., John Quincy Adams ; C. Scliurz, Henry Clay ; 
W. G. Sumner, Andrew Jackson ; H. C. Lodge, Daniel Webster ; H. von 
Hoist, John C. Calhoun ; E. M. Shepard, Martin Van Buren ; H. Adams, 
John Randolph ; James Parton, Andrew Jackson, and his Andrew Jackson 
(Great Commander Series) ; B. Tuckerman, Memoirs of Lafayette. 

Special. — F. W. Taussig, Tariff History of the United States ; D. C. 
Gilmau, James Monroe, pp. 125-174 ; C. Schurz, Henry Clay, i. 137-202 ; 
E. Stanwood, History of Presidential Elections, "The Second Adams," 
"Andrew Jackson" pp. 79-101; Josiah Quincy, Figures of the Past; A. 
Johnston, American Politics, pp. 82-114 ; American History Leaflets, No. 4, 
The Monroe Doctrine ; J. F. Rhodes, History of the United States, i. 14-42. 

197. Increase of National Feeling. (1815.) — It is pleasant 
to leave accounts of war, and to turn the attention, at least 
in part, to interests which belong to peace, and which l)ind a 
people together most firmly, and best stimulate a healtliy 
national growth, such as improved means of communication, 
mechanical inventions, philanthropic efforts, and education. 

The beginning of Monroe's term of office marks an 6poch 
in the history of the United States. Previously many had 
looked upon the Union as an experiment, but after 1815 the 

182 



ERA OF GOOD FEELING. 



183 



national feeling greatly increased, and party questions related 
to public policy rather than to forms of government. In the 
thirty years of peace following the War of 1812, the great 
subjects which claimed the attention of the people were those 
of internal policy, such as the tariff, internal improvements, 
— national roads, canals, railroads, — public lands, education, 
and slavery. Party lines for a time seem.ed to disappear, and 
Monroe's Presidency has therefore been called the " era of 
good feeling." 



198. Era of Good Feeling. (1815 1819.) — Monroe seemed 
to have taken Washington as his model and to have followed 
liis example Avhenever possible. 
Like him, early in his term of 
office he made an extended tour 
through the states. Nominally 
for the purpose of inspecting 
the defences of the seaboard, 
the journey really was to heal 
as far as practicable party ani- 
mosities. Travelling was slow 
in those days, and three months 
and a half were taken up in 
visiting the eastern and middle 
states. Monroe was received 

everywhere with enthusiasm, the old Federalists for the 
moment being almost as full of zeal as the President's own 
party, and Jefferson's words, " We are all Federalists, we are 
all Republicans," seemed for the time to be literally true. 
A second tour in 1819 was made to the southern states. A 
Presidential tour now is no uncommon thing, but in Monroe's 
day it meant a great deal, and the effect upon the people 
was marked. 




JAMES MONROE. 



184 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

199. Cession of Florida ; General Jackson. (1819.) — Spain 
owned Florida, but it could hardly be said she governed it. 
There were but few settlements or forts, and the country 
was really held by various tribes of Indians, the chief of 
whom were known as the Seminoles. Runaway slaves from 
Georgia and Alabama found it a safe place of refuge, and 
adventurers saw in it an attractive field for their lawless 
operations. During the War of 1812 there was continual 
trouble, which lasted after peace had been made ; Spain 
was either indifferent to complaints or helpless to keep 
order. In fact, there was regular border Avarfare. In 1817 
General Andrew Jackson was sent to take command of the 
United States forces. In his instructions he was allowed to 
pursue a flying enemy across the boundary, but he Avas not 
to attempt to take any Spanish post Avithout direct orders 
from Washington. In the conduct of the campaign, how- 
ever, he acted Avithout regard to instructions. He accused 
the Spanish commanders of aiding the Indians, — probably a 
true charge in some instances, — and took several of the 
toAvns and forts, among them Pensacola. He captured two 
British subjects, had them tried by court-martial, and 
promptly hanged them, though the evidence against them 
Avas of a doubtful character. Thus in a very short time he 
had violated the rules of international law, and brought the 
country to the verge of Avar Avith two nations. Pensacola 
Avas soon restored to Spain ; but as it was evident that the 
Floridas would continue to be a troublesome possession, 
Spain became more Avilling to enter into negotiations for 
their cession to the United States, and in 1819 a treaty 
for the purchase Avas signed at Washington. This Avas not 
ratified by both countries until 1821. In consideration of 
the United States renouncing all claims upon Spain for 
spoliations, and agreeing to pay to American claimants 



i 



PROTECTION TO HOME INDUSTRIES. 185 

15,000,000, Spain ceded all the Floridas to the United 
States. The western boundary of the Louisiana Purchase 
was also fixed by this treaty .^ 

200. Agreement relative to the Great Lakes. (1817.) — In 
1817 Great Britain and the United States mutually agreed 
to limit the naval force of each power on the Great Lakes to 
two vessels on the upper lakes, to one vessel on Lake On- 
tario, and one on Lake Champlain ; each vessel was not tc 
exceed one hundred tons' burden, and was to be armed with 
but a single small cannon. This was but a police force to 
preserve order and protect the collection of revenue. It was 
also agreed that no vessels should be built or armed on the 
Great Lakes for war purposes. 

201. Protection to Home Industries. (1817.) — One effect 
of the War of 1812 had been to shut out English manufac- 
tures, and in consequence to stimulate the manufacture of 
cotton and woollen goods in the United States. As has been 
seen, the New England states turned their attention from the 
carrying trade to manufactures. Now that peace was made, 
the English merchants poured their goods into the United 
States, underselling American manufacturers, who were 
unable to compete in prices ; indeed, it was alleged that the 
English merchants sent their goods over with the avowed 
purpose of breaking down any competition in America, and 
in order to do this were willing for a time to sell below cost. 
A proposed reduction of the tariff was postponed, and in 

1 Omitting particulars, the boundary may be described as following the 
Sabine, Red, and Arkansas rivers, to the forty-second parallel of latitude, 
and thence to the Pacific Ocean. In agreeing to these boundaries the United 
States lost Texas, a part of which she had previously claimed under the 
Louisiana treaty, but whose worth was unknown or undervalued at that 
time. 



186 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

1817 the " American Society for the Encouragement of Amer- 
ican Manufactures " was formed. Now more than ever was 
Protection made a definite policy ; for though the theory had 
been distinctly recognized, revenue had been the object of 
every financial measure ; after this time " protection " has 
often been made the primary object in legislation, and 
revenue the secondary^ (sect. 156). 

In 1816 a number of southern men, among them Calhoun, 
advocated at least a moderate protective policy ; but before 
long they were led to believe that such a policy was against 
the interests of the South, particularly of the cotton-produc- 
ing states, and in a few years most southern men became 
strong opponents of protection (sect. 218). 

202. Internal Improvements. (1806-1819.) — In 1806 Con- 
gress had made an appropriation for the construction of a 
national road from Maryland to Ohio, the first instance of 
the kind under the Constitution. In 1805 Jefferson in his 
second inaugural recommended an amendment to the Consti- 
tution, giving the states the surplus revenue to expend on 
roads, canals, and education. Madison and Monroe both 
vetoed bills making appropriations for the construction of 
roads at the national expense, on the ground of unconsti- 
tutionalit}', but both had agreed in tliinking that such works 

1 Protection, or a protective tariff, is a tax laid upon imported goods so 
high that it will encourage such goods to be manufactured at home. The 
advocates of protection claim that those engaged in manufacturing will buy 
of the farmers, thus giving them a home market for their products ; and that 
there will be a greater diversity of hiterests in the country, making it to a 
great extent independent of foreign nations. The advocates of free trade 
claim that it is best for each country to produce that for which it is best 
fitted by nature ; that manu-factures will spring up as soon as the country is 
ready for them ; that protection benefits a few at the expense of the many ; 
and that a policy of free trade will tend to peace between nations. 



ERTE CANAL. 187 

should be undertaken by the government under proper re- 
strictions, and had suggested amendments to the Constitu- 
tion to give Congress the power. Many believed that the 
power to make internal improvements was implied in the 
Constitution ; others, that the whole matter rested with 
the states, and that the national government had nothing 
to do with it ; they also disapproved on principle the giving 
to Congress increased power. The subject of slavery began 
now to force itself before men's minds in a Avay that demanded 
attention. With the questions of the tariff, " internal im- 
provements," and slavery before the country, it is clear that 
the " era of good feeling " was rapidly coming to an end, and 
that these questions would be sufficient to divide tlie Demo- 
cratic-Republican party. A leader for a new party had already 
appeared in Henry Clay of Kentucky. 

203. Erie Canal. (1817-1825.) — Meanwhile some of the 
states had gone on building roads and constructing canals 
independently of the national government. The most im- 
portant of these works was the Erie Canal in the state of 
New York. The construction of this great work is mainly 
due to the indomitable perseverance of DeWitt Clinton. 
Begun on the 4th of July, 1817, " Clinton's Ditch," as it was 
called in derision by the opponents of the measure, was fin- 
ished in 1825. Joining the waters of Lake Erie with those 
of the Hudson River, and extending over three hundred and 
sixty miles through the very heart of the state, this canal 
became the means of carrying a vast amount of merchandise 
to and from the sea. It stimulated in a wonderful manner 
the growth of the whole state through which it passed, and 
enabled the city of New York to leave Philadelphia, hereto- 
fore the largest city in the Union, far behind in commercial 
prosperity and in population. 



188 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

204. Missouri, Slave or Free? (1818-1820.) —In 1819 the 
number of states in the Union was twenty-two. All the 
states added so far to the original thirteen had been formed 
out of territory within the original limits as fixed by the 
treaty with Great Britain, except the state of Louisiana, 
admitted in 1812. Of the thirteen, seven were free and six 
were slave states, but by the admission of the nine new 
states the number of slave and free states had become equal, 
thus giving each section of the country an equal voice in the 
Senate. In the House of Representatives, on the other hand, 
the representation from the free states was larger, owing to 
the much more rapid growth in population.^ Heretofore the 
Ohio River had been the dividing line between freedom and 
slavery ; all new states admitted north of it were free, and all 
south of it were slave states. Late in 1818 the legislature 
of the territory of Missouri applied to Congress to be ad- 
mitted into the Union. At once the question was forced 
upon the country to decide whether the vast domain lying 
west of the Mississippi should be slave or free. The latter 
would mean the overthrow of the slaveholders' influence in 
Congress ; the former, the continuance and increase of slavery. 
Louisiana had been admitted as a slave state ; it was south 
of the Ohio, and slavery was an established institution when 
the Louisiana Purchase was made. But the northern part of 
the proposed state was on a line with Indiana and Ohio, while 
the southern boundary, 36° 30', was almost exactly that of 
Kentucky and Virginia. Geographically, therefore, the terri- 
tory was debatable ground. A bitter controversy was immi- 
nent, and Jefferson, now in retirement, wrote, " From the 
battle of Bunker Hill to the treaty of Paris, we never had so 
ominous a question." 

1 See tables, Appendices v.-viii. (Admission of the States, and Populatioi) 
of the Sections, 1790-1890). 



MISSOURI COMPROMISE. 189 

205. Missouri Compromise. (1818-1820.) — The South held 
that Congress had no right to interfere with slavery, as it 
was a question which concerned the individual states, and 
should be left to each to determine for itself. The North 
held that Congress had full power over territories, and could 
prescribe conditions requisite for the admission of new states 
which should be binding. The South recognizing that the 
loss of the equality of representation in the Senate meant 
loss of political supremacy, and probably a fatal blow to the 
extension, if not the existence, of slavery, resisted the admis- 
sion of Missouri as a free state with stubborn tenacity. The 
abstract character of slavery itself entered also into the dis- 
cussion, intensifying the feelings of the combatants. 

The struggle raged for about two years, until 1820, when 
Jesse B. Thomas of Illinois introduced a bill into Congress 
proposing that Missouri should be admitted as a slave state, 
but that slavery should be forever prohibited in the territory 
of the United States lying north of the 36° 30' north latitude. 
Mainly through the efforts of Henry Clay of Kentucky, then 
Speaker of the House of Representatives, this bill passed 
Congress and became a law. Such is the famous Missouri 
Compromise Bill, which for the first time fixed by law the 
division of the country into a free North and a slaveholding 
South. Almost simultaneously the South permitted the 
admission of Maine into the Union as a free state, having 
refused to admit it until the Missouri question was settled. 

206. Monroe re-elected. (1820.) — Notwithstanding the 
bitter controversy just described, no candidates were nomi- 
nated for the Presidency or Vice-Presidency, there being no 
opposition to the re-election of Monroe and Tompkins. Mon- 
roe received the vote of all the Presidential electors except 
that of one in New Hampshire, who gave his vote for John 



190 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Quincy Adams, on the ground, it is said, that no one but 
Washington should receive a unanimous vote. For Vice- 
President, Daniel D. Tompkins Avas elected. 

207. Spanish-American Republics. (1810-1822.) — The suc- 
cess of the United States and its wonderful growth had not 
been unobserved by the other colonies in America, both 
north and south ; and from 1810 the Spanish colonies one 
after another began to rebel, and then to throw off the yoke 
of the mother country. As early as 1816 Henry Clay had 
" put the question whether the United States would not have 
openly to take part with the patriots of South America " ; in 
1818 he had urged the recognition of the Spanish-American 
republics, and in 1822 arrangements were made for opening 
diplomatic relations with '' independent nations on the Amer- 
ican continent." It was evident that Spain was unable to 
reduce her refractory colonies to obedience, but there were 
indications that some of the European powers were inclined 
to give her assistance. After the final overthrow of Napoleon, 
Russia, Austria, and Prussia, and afterwards England and 
France, had formed themselves into what the}^ called the 
" Holy Alliance." Nominally for the purpose of " preserv- 
ing peace, justice, and religion in the name of the gospel," 
its real design was to prevent the recurrence of anything like 
a revolution, and to put down an3"thing like the appearance 
of rebellion. Thus a rising in Naples was put down by 
Austrian forces, and an attempt at a liberal government in 
Spain itself was crushed by France in 1823.^ 

208. Monroe Doctrine. (1823.) — It was now said that this 
Holy Alliance was about to aid Spain to recover her col- 
onies, and that France was about to set up a kingdom in the 
new world. In a message to Congress in 1823 the President 

1 England disavowed tiiese acts committed in Italy and Spain. 



NEW NATIONAL ISSUES. 191 

announced, (1) That tlie United States would remain neu- 
tral as regarded political affairs in Europe, but that any 
attempt by European governments to extend their system to 
any part of North or South America, or to oppress or control 
independent American states, would be regarded as "the 
manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United 
States." (2) " That the American continents, by the free and 
independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, 
are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colo- 
nization by any European powers." These statements are 
known as the "Monroe Doctrine." Little of this "Doc- 
trine" was new; for Washington, Jefferson, and others had 
already stated the principles laid down in the first part. The 
authorship of the second part is attributed to John Quincy 
Adams. England, for reasons of her own, opposed the plan 
to reduce Spanish colonies to obedience, but she did not 
relish the second part of Monroe's statement, for it affected 
her claims on the west coast of America. 

209. New National Issues. (1824.) — Monroe was the last 
of the Revolutionary statesmen, and before the close of his 
second term a new generation of men had come to the front, 
before whom new questions of public policy presented them- 
selves, and new dangers rose up to be avoided. In the Con- 
gress to which was addressed the message containing the 
" Monroe Doctrine " two subjects, already referred to, began 
to be national issues : (1) Internal improvements at the 
national expense; and (2) a tariff for protection. Upon 
these two lines the old Democratic-Republican party divided. 
A bill creating a distinctively protective tariff was passed by 
a small majority. This is known as the tariff of 1824. A 
bill providing for surveys looking to a national system of 
canals was also passed. 



192 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

210. John Quincy Adams chosen President by the House. 
(1825.) — The time now drew near for clioosing a successor 
for Monroe, but the issues of the " tariff and internal im- 
provements " had not been long enough before the country 
to be distinctly party issues, and the choice turned rather 
upon men than measures. So personal became the contest 
that this election was called " the scrub race for the Presi- 
dency." From 1804 to 1820 candidates for the office of 
President had been nominated by a caucus of the members 
of Congress ; in the latter year, as there was no opposition 
to Monroe and Tompkins, no caucus was held. Early in 
1824 an attempt was made to return to the old but unpopu- 
lar plan ; a few members of Congress met and nominated 
William H. Crawford of Georgia for President. Crawford 
was a man of much experience in political affairs, had held 
various offices, and was now Secretary of the Treasury ; but 
his nomination was not acceptable to many, and the legis- 
lature of Tennessee presented Andrew Jackson as its candi- 
date ; Kentucky followed with Henry Clay ; Massachusetts, 
with John Quincy Adams. John C. Calhoun of South Caro- 
lina was supported for Vice-President by the majority of 
advocates of the various candidates for the Presidency. As 
might have been expected, no candidate received a majority 
of the electoral votes, and the choice fo^^ President, in 
accordance with the Constitution, fell to the House of Rep- 
resentatives. Clay, standing fourth on the list in respect to 
the number of votes received, was ineligible (Constitution, 
Amend. Art. xii.). As was natural, the friends of Clay 
joined with those of the other "loose constructionists" and 
chose Adams, though Jackson had a larger electoral vote.^ 

1 Jackson and Crawford were both strict constructionists of the Constitu- 
tion, while Clay and Adams believed in a liberal or loose construction of 
that instrument. 



JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 193 

Calhoun, having received a majority of the electoral votes, 
was declared Vice-President. 

Immediately there was a cry of a "corrupt bargain," 
which was not lessened when Adams announced that he 
would appoint Clay Secretary of State. As a result the 
Jackson and Crawford factions joined in opposition to 
Adams and Clay, whose followers united, soon calling them- 
selves National Republicans, and afterwards Whigs. In 
most particulars this new party differed little from the old 
Federalists. Their opponents, first called Jackson men, or 
Jacksonians, before long took the name of Democrats, a 
name still retained. 

211. John ftuincy Adams; his Character. (1825.) — No man 
ever came to the office of President better prepared by ed- 
ucation for its duties than John Quincy 
Adams. He was born in 1767, his father, 
John Adams, was one of the most promi- 
nent men of the country, and his son had 
every advantage that social and political j 
position could give him. He was educated 
at Harvard, accompanied his father abroad, 
and gained that familiarity with European 
languages and life which was of so much ^' "^^^ 

. 1 . j>, T A , ,1 n JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 

use to him afterwards. At the age of 
twenty-seven he was appointed minister to the Netherlands, 
and thenceforth to his death in 1848 was almost continuously 
in the service of his country. He was senator from 1803- 
1808, minister to Russia, 1809-1817, and Secretary of State 
under Monroe, 1817-1825. After his retirement from the 
Presidency, he was elected in 1831 to represent his district 
in the House of Representatives, and died at his post in the 
Capitol at Washington. Somewhat haughty in his manner. 




194 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

impatient of other men's views, taking little pleasure in 
society, he was not popular ; he had few personal friends, 
and no personal political following. He was an " accidental 
President," and not the choice of the people. He shone most 
when in the opposition in the House of Representatives, and 
his fame rests chiefly on his career after he was President. 

212. Lafayette's Visit to America. (1824-1825.) — During 
the last year of Monroe's administration Lafayette visited 
the United States, which he had not seen for forty years. 
Declining the offer of a public vessel tendered by the United 
States government, he sailed in a private ship, and landed at 
New York late in the summer of 1824. At once he was 
treated as the guest of the nation, and during the whole of 
his stay every expense was provided foi", and every wish so 
far as practicable was anticipated. The people looked upon 
him as the representative of the Revolution, and so, in 
rendering honor to the man, there was a gratification of 
national pride. It is hard to realize the enthusiasm of the 
time. Everywhere Lafayette went his course was a tri- 
umphal progress. Town and country contended which should 
do him greater honor, and arches and banners with " Wel- 
come Lafayette " greeted him throughout the land.^ The 
newspapers of the day are full of the accounts of the recep- 
tion and of the dinner-parties given to him. One of these 
latter was at the White House, and was given by the Presi- 
dent, John Quincy Adams. At this there were present 
ex-Presidents Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, all being old 
friends of the chief guest. When Lafayette left the country 
after a visit of a year, he took with him, besides the good 

1 Josiah Quincy, in his " Figures of the Past," tells of an enthusiastic 
lady, who may be taken as a fair representative of the popular feeling, who 
said, " If Lafayette had kissed me, depend upon it, I would never have 
washed my face again as long as I lived." 



changp:s in the united states. 



195 



wishes of the American people, f 200,000 in money, as com- 
pensation for his services to the country, and in lieu of land 
which had been granted him as an officer of the Revolution, 
but which he had lost through some technicality. More 
might have been his, had not his modesty made him decline 



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LAFAYETTE. 



other gifts tendered him by states and by individuals. He 
sailed for France in a new ship of the navy, named in his 
honor Brandywine^ from the battle in which he had taken so 
prominent a part. 

213. Chang^es in the United States. (1825.) —Nearly fifty 
years had passed since Lafayette had first come to America, 
and he must have been surprised at the changes which met 



196 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

his eye as he revisited the scenes of his early manhood. The 
population in 1777 was 3,000,000 : it was now (1824) about 
11,000,000 : then there were thirteen small colonies ; now 
there were twenty-four states : then the settlements occupied 
only the country lying along the coast; now there were 
states a thousand miles inland, and the country extended 
from the Atlantic Ocean to Texas and the Rocky Moun- 
tains, and from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico : then he was 
aiding a few rebel colonies resisting a strong mother country; 
now he was the guest of the United States, one of the 
greatest powers of the earth. The progress in agriculture, 
commerce, and manufactures had fully kept pace with the 
political and territorial growth. The United States was the 
great producer of cotton and grain for Europe ; her flag was 
seen in every port ; and already her citizens were celebrated 
for their inventive skill. Though the railroad had not been 
introduced, steamboats plied regularly where only the canoe 
of the Indian or of the hunter had been seen fifty years 
before. To one coming from discontented Europe the land 
seemed indeed a land of peace, prosperity, and freedom. 

214. Adams Unpopular ; Internal Improvements. (1825.) — 
John Quincy Adams, while one of the best Presidents the 
country has ever seen, was not a popular one. Many per- 
sons thought that the place rightly belonged to Jackson, who 
had the largest popular and electoral vote, and that Congress 
should have followed " the will of the people" and chosen him. 
Indeed, Adams was hardly in his seat before preparations 
were made for the next campaign by Jackson's supporters, not 
a few of whom were office-hoklers under Adams ; but he 
refused to remove them in order to fill tlieir places with his 
own adherents, for he would not in the slightest degree use 
the public service for his personal advantage. 



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PAN-AMERICAN CONGRESS PROPOSED. 197 

The question of appropriations by Congress for " internal 
improvement " (sect. 209) had been debated for a long time, 
but Adams had no doubt as to the constitutionality of the 
matter, and in his inaugural address boldly recommended 
appropriation for such objects. In his first message to Con- 
gress he went still further, recommending appropriations for 
national observatories, a university, and scientific enterprises 
of various kinds, as well as public roads, canals, and defences. 
The country was not ready for such an extension of implied 
constitutional powers; the North was divided upon the 
issue, while the South believed that the narrow or strict view 
of the Constitution was more favorable to its interests. A 
number of bills were passed by Congress in aid of internal 
improvements, but they fell far short of the President's 
recommendations, and it was many years before his views 
were accepted to any great extent. 

215. Pan-American Congress proposed. (1825-1826.) — The 

South American republics, encouraged by Monroe's declara- 
tion, invited the United States to send delegates to a con- 
gress of American states to be held at Panama to form an 
alliance for self-defence, and to deliberate on other matters 
of common interest. After much opposition, two delegates, 
nominated by the President, were confirmed by the Senate ; 
but owing to the death of one of them and the delay of the 
other, the congress was held without the presence of a single 
representative from the United States. The attendance at 
Panama was small, and the congress, without accomplishing 
anything, adjourned to meet in Mexico in 1827 ; but it never 
came together again, and the whole movement was a failure. 

216. Difficulties with the Creeks. (1802-1825.) — A number 
of Indian treaties were made with various tribes about this 



198 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

time. Jefferson had proposed that all the tribes east of the 
Mississippi should be gradually removed to lands within the 
Louisiana Purchase, but very little had been done toAvards 
bringing about this result until Monroe's term. Several 
treaties had been made on this basis. Considerable difficult}^ 
had arisen in regard to the Creeks and Cherokees in the 
state of Georgia. When Georgia ceded her claim on western 
territory to the United States government, the latter agreed 
to extinguish the claims the Indians might have to lands 
within the state. Though the agreement was made in 1802, 
it had not been carried out, and Georgia in 1819 demanded 
its fulfilment. At last, in 1825, some of the Creek chiefs, on 
their own authority, ceded the lands of their tribe to the 
United States, and agreed to move beyond the Mississippi. 
The Creeks refused to abide by the treaty, and put to 
death the chiefs who had made the agreement. The state 
of Georgia undertook to take possession of the lands ; 
the President interfered, and for a time it seemed as 
though there would be a petty war. Finally a new treaty 
was negotiated with the Creeks, who gave up almost all 
their land and agreed to move beyond the Mississippi. The 
Cherokee question was still unsettled and came up later 
(sect. 228). 

217. Anti-Masonic Party; Death of Adams and Jefferson. 
(1826.) — In 1826 William Morgan, a Freemason, undertook 
to publish a book revealing the Masonic secrets. After vari- 
ous adventures he suddenly disappeared, and no certain trace 
of him was ever discovered. Many believed him to have 
been murdered by the Masons, and the excitement against 
them was great, and led to the formation of an anti-Masonic 
party, which for a long time had considerable power, espe- 
cially in the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, 



ERA OF ILL-FEELING. 199 

Ohio, and Massachusetts. In 1832 it was strong enough to 
nominate a Presidential candidate, but soon after disappeared 
from the field of politics. 

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, though they had 
quarrelled when the former became President, had long since 
made up their quarrels and become warm friends, often writ- 
ing to each other and discussing in an amicable ,way the 
events of the early years of the republic. On the 4th of 
July, 1826, they died, almost at the same hour, each thinking 
that the other was still alive. So remarkable a coincidence 
made a great impression upon the public, and gave occasion 
for the delivery of Daniel Webster's well-known oration. 

218. Era of lU-feeUng ; Protective Tariff of 1828. (1824- 
1829.) — If Monroe's administration had been the "era of 
good feeling," that of Adams was quite the reverse. At 
no time in the history of the country had political feeling 
run higher or abuse been more violent. The questions of 
the tariff and internal improvements were fairly before the 
country as party issues ; but to these Avas added a personal 
element which intensified legitimate discussions to an extraor- 
dinary degree. It seemed as if nothing was too bad to be 
believed of an opponent, and stories proved to be false were 
repeated over and over again and believed, in spite of 
renewed denial and proof of their falsity. 

The tariff of 1824 has already been mentioned (sect. 209). 
Meanwhile public opinion in the states north of the Potomac 
River had been steadily growing in favor of a protective tariff, 
and this was true not only of the manufacturers, but of the 
farmers as well. The eastern states, however, were divided 
in sentiment from the fear that the shipping interests might 
be unfavorably affected by a protective tariff. South of the 
Potomac, particularly in the cotton-growing states, public 



200 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

opinion was strongly opposed to protection. After much dis- 
cussion, a protective tariff act passed both houses of Congress 
by small majorities in 1828, and became a law. This act was 
especially obnoxious to the people of South Carolina and 
Georgia, and many public meetings were held in those states 
in which it was denounced in strong language as "a gross 
and palpable violation of the Constitution " ; some speakers 
even threatening a dissolution of the Union unless there 
should be " an unconditional repeal of the protecting laws." 

On the issues of a protective tariff and internal improve- 
ments at the national expense, these two being called the 
"American System," the old Democratic-Republican party 
divided ; those supporting Clay and the " American System " 
called themselves National Republicans, while their opponents 
soon took the name of Democrats. 

219. Election of Jackson. (1828.) — When the time for 
nominating candidates for the Presidency came round, 
Adams and Richard Rush were nominated by the National 
Republicans, and Jackson and Calhoun by the Democrats. 
In the election of 1828 Adams and Rush were overwhelm- 
ingly defeated, not receiving the vote of a single southern 
state. The reasons for Adams's defeat were not wholly the 
tariff nor internal improvements. A change had come over 
the country. Hitherto trained men had been candidates for 
the office of President; now a feeling had sj)rung up that 
there was a danger of an aristocracy, and tliat Jackson rep- 
resented the people. Adams lost his re-election from causes 
very similar to those which had defeated his father in 1800. 
The fact that Jackson was a great military hero, and that 
there was a very general feeling that he should have been 
chosen by the House of Representatives in 1825, carried him 
into office on a wave of popular enthusiasm. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE THIRTY YEARS' PEACE (^continued). 
REFERENCES. 

General. — J. Schouler, History of the United States, iii. 451-531, iv. 
1-494 ; Bryant and Gay, Popular History of the United States, iv. 295-369 ; 
T. W. Higginson, Larger History of the United States, pp. 431-455 ; H. A. 
Wise, Seven Decades of the Union, Chaps, iv.-viii. ; E. Channing, The 
United States, pp. 208-230 ; W. Wilson, Division and Reunion (Epochs 
of American History), pp. 1-148 ; J. F. Rhodes, History of the United States, 
i. 40-86 ; T. H. Benton, Thirty Years' View, i. 119-739, ii. 19-638 ; H. 
Greeley, The American Conflict, i. 107-185 ; J. G. Blaine, Twenty Years of 
Congress, i. 21-40 ; Goldwin Smith, The United States, pp. 193-211. 

Biographies. — James Parton, Andrew Jackson ; also his smaller work 
in the Great Commander Series ; W. G. Sumner, Andrew Jackson ; H. von 
Hoist, John C. Calhoun; H. C. Lodge, Daniel Webster; T. Roosevelt, 
Thomas H. Benton ; A. C. McLaughlin, Lewis Cass ; C. Schurz, Henry 
Clay ; E. M. Shepard, Martin Van Buren ; J. T. Morse, Jr., John Quincy 
Adams, and his Abraham Lincoln. 

Special. — A. Johnston, American Politics, Chaps, xii.-xv. ; E. Stanwood, 
History of Presidential Elections, Chaps, xii.-xvi. For the Spoils System : 
Sumner's Jackson, pp. 140-149 ; Shepard's Van Buren, pp. 177-187 ; J. J. 
Lalor, Cyclopaedia, iii. 19-24 ; D. B. Eaton, The Spoils System. For Nullifica- 
tion : Von Hoist's Calhoun, pp. 62-123 ; James F. Rhodes, History of the 
United States, i. 40-53 ; A. Johnston, American Orations, i. 196-212. AVebster 
and Hayne : A. Johnston, American Orations, i. 213-282. The American 
System : A. Johnston, American Orations, iii. 327-373. The Cherokees in 
Georgia : H. Greeley, The American Conflict, i. 102-106 ; Atlantic Monthly, 
Ixv. 394; Census 1890, Extra Census Bulletin, "Eastern Band of Chero- 
kees," pp. 17, 18. The Dorr War: G. W. Greene, Short History of Rhode 
Island, pp. 276-282 ; J. J. Lalor, Cyclopaedia, i. 835, iii. 637. Anti-Renters : 
E. H. Roberts, New York, ii. 623-632. The Abolition Movement : James 
Freeman Clarke, Anti-Slavery Days ; H. Greeley, The American Conflict, i. 

201 



202 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

125-128 ; James F. Rhodes, History of the United States, i. 53-75 ; Governor 
McDuffie's Message on the Slavery Question, 1835 ; American History 
Leaflets, No. 10. Nat Turner Insurrection : Atlantic Monthly, viii. 173 ; J. E. 
Cooke, Virginia, pp. 485-487. The Mormons : Josiah Quincy, Figures of the 
Past, pp. 376-400 ; Century Magazine, xxiii. 449, 712 ; L. Carr, Missouri, 
pp. 179-185. William Henry Harrison: J. P. Dunn, Indiana, pp. 277-324, 
411-416. The Crisis of 1837: Shepard's Martin Van Buren, pp. 242-277 ; 
Schurz's Henry Clay, ii. 113-151 ; Roosevelt's Thomas H. Benton, pp. 189- 
208. For Personal Recollections : N. Sargent, Public Men and Events, i. 
161-349, ii. 10-263 ; Josiah Quincy, Figures of the Past, pp. 352-375. 

220. Andrew Jackson. (1829.) — With the accession of 
Andrew Jackson to the office of President begins a new era 
in the history of the country. 

Born in 1767, Jackson was sixty-two years old, but ill 
health and exposure caused him to look much older than 
that. He was a man of strong convictions, and, always 
sure he was right, could rarely be moved by argument. He 
never forgot a friend nor forgave an enemy, and regarded 
every one who differed from him, not only as his own enemy, 
but also as tlie enemy of his country. He was an honest 
man through and through, and undoubtedly thouglit he was 
putting an end to a vast amount of corruption when he took 
charge of the executive office. 

221. Removals from Office. (1829.) — In his inaugural 
Jackson said, '' The recent demonstration of public senti- 
ment inscribes on the list of executive duties, in characters 
too legible to be overlooked, the task of reform." He went 
on to renew the charges made during the campaign against 
the late administration, though Adams had been unusually 
successful in liis appointments, and no one had suffered on 
account of his political opinions. Now that we are able to 
review calmly the history of those times of excitement, it is 
acknoAvledged by all that, in economy and purity, the admin- 



1 




ANDREW JACKSON. 



"THE SPOILS SYSTEM." 203 

istration of John Quincy Adams has not been surpassed. 
Jackson, however, believed not only that there was corrup- 
tion among the office-holders, but that it was his duty to 
rew^ard with offices those who had been active in his behalf. ■ 
New as this system was in national politics, it was well known 
in some of the states, notably in New York. 

222. " The Spoils System." (1829-1831.) — Previous to Jack- 
son there had been, in all, 74 removals from office by the 
Presidents, most of them for substantial reasons. Of these 
removals Washington had made 9 ; John Adams, 10 ; Jeffer- 
son, 39; Madison, 5; Monroe, 9; J. Q. Adams, 2. Jackson 
made a clean sweep of all the offices worth anything; it 
being estimated that during his first year of office, including 
the changes made by subordinates, about 2000 appointments 
were made. Since his time the rule has been, to use the 
phrase of Marcy, then Senator from New York, " to the vic- 
tors belong the spoils." A bill was passed in 1820 limiting 
the terms for which many office-holders were appointed to 
four years. This measure, designed to correct abuses which 
had crept into the service, brought about the far worse evil 
of rotation in office. Offices with a few proper exceptions 
had previously been held during good behavior. Daniel 
Webster clearly pointed out at the time the evils likely to 
follow such a method as that adopted in 1820. The Civil 
Service Bill passed in 1883 is the beginning of a return to 
the old ways. It is not just to lay all the responsibility of the 
" spoils system " upon Jackson, but he was the first President 
who distinctly made public office a reward for party services. 

223. Jackson a Self-made Man ; the " Kitchen Cabinet." 
(1829.) — Jackson was the first President who was, in the 
fullest sense of the term, a self-made man. He was possessed 



204 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

of an unflinching courage, an indomitable will, and wonderful 
perseverance. He had perfect confidence in his own powers 
and was regardless of consequences. His abilities were of no 
low order, and had he possessed opportunities for education 
and cultivation in his youth, his career would probably have 
been marked with fewer errors. 

As it is, no figure in American history, with the possible 
exception of Abraham Lincoln, stands out with more marks 
of originality than that of Andrew Jackson. His personal 
manners, particularly towards women, were courteous and 
dignified, but his previous life had been S23ent mostly on the 
frontier, and he had been accustomed to a rougli and ready 
way of deciding matters. In his boyhood during the Revolu- 
tionary War, he had been taken prisoner by the British and 
had been wounded by an officer whose boots, it is said, he 
had refused to blacken. Before he was thirty-two he had 
been country storekeeper, lawyer, district attorney, judge, 
congressman, and senator. Jefferson, who as Vice-President 
presided over the Senate, relates that in that body Jackson 
" could never speak on account of the rashness of his feelings. 
I have seen him attempt it repeatedly, and as often choke 
with rage." 

It is not surprising that with such a preparation there 
was a great difference between Jackson's administration and 
former ones. His first Cabinet, as might have been expected, 
was weak, Van Buren, Secretary of State, being the only 
really able man in it. Jackson did not, however, rely upon 
his Cabinet for advice, but rather on a few of his special favor- 
ites, some of whom held positions in the departments. It 
was not long before it was found that the way to the Presi- 
dent's good will lay through these men, and in consequence of 
their subordinate positions and their influence, they were 
called the " Kitchen Cabinet." 



OALHOUN PROPOSES NULLIFICATION. 205 

'224. The United States Bank. (1816-1832.) — The Bank of 
the United States had been up to 1829 a non-political insti- 
tution, its directors giving their attention strictly to the 
legitimate business of such a corporation, but in the new 
state of things it was hardly possible to avoid some conflict 
with the President. It soon came, over an appointment in 
one of the branches of the Bank. Jackson, though at first he 
does not seem to have had any special feeling against the 
institution, became its most determined enemy. Chartered in 
1816 for twenty years, in 1832 the directors resolved to ask 
Congress for a renewal of the charter, though it was four 
years before the old one expired. Congress after prolonged 
discussion granted the request, but Jackson vetoed the bill, 
and it failed to be passed over his veto. 

225. Calhoun proposes Nullification. (1831-2.)— A tariff 
for protection had become year by year more and more 
objectionable to the people of the southern states, particularly 
those of South Carolina. Jackson did not like the tariff 
either, but as long as it was a law of the country he intended 
to enforce it. It must be remembered that there were a large 
number of persons at that time who honestly believed that 
the national government rested upon the consent of the states; 
in other words, that the Union was a confederacy of states, 
not a union of the people. The great leader of the southern 
party, Calhoun, does not seem to have wished the states to 
secede except as a last resort, and so he supported what is 
called " Nullification," which was very nearly what had been 
laid down in the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions of 1798- 
1799. He claimed that the states had never given Congress 
the power to pass a law authorizing a protective tariff, and 
hence the states had a right to pronounce such a law null 
and void. In 1832 a new protective tariff was adopted. 



206 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

226. Jackson re-elected ; " Removal of Deposits." (1833.) — 

The Presidential election came on just after Jackson's veto 
of the bill for the renewal of the charter of the Bank. Both 
he and his opponents were willing to make that question the 
issue of the campaign. The National Republicans under the 
leadership of Clay and Webster supported the Bank as an 
institution necessary to carry on successfully the financial 
work of the government, and valuable as furnishing a uni- 
form and safe paper currency. They also upheld the "Ameri- 
can System," as they called a tariff for protection, as bene- 
ficial to the country at large. Jackson attacked the Bank as 
a monopoly using its influence in a way injurious to the coun- 
try, as failing to do what was expected of it, and as being 
unconstitutional. Notwithstanding the popularity of Clay, 
and the strength of the position of the National Republicans 
on many points, the cry of '' monied monopoly,'' and the con- 
fidence of the people in Jackson, carried the day, and Jackson 
was re-elected by a very large majority of the electoral vote. 
He naturally took this as an approval of his policy. He 
now directed that government money should not be de- 
posited in the Bank or its branches. This action is generally 
spoken of as " the removal of deposits." The Secretary of the 
Treasury did not, however, agree with Jackson, and refused 
to obey his order ; he was accordingly removed, as well as 
his successor, who also declined to obey his chief. On the 
removal of this second man, the Attorney-General, Roger B. 
Taney, was appointed to the vacant post, who immediately 
did as Jackson wished. 

227. Nullification. (1832.) — Compromise Tariff. (1833.) 
— Meanwhile the agitation went on in South Carolina. A 
convention was held which declared that the tariff law was 
null and void, and that should the national government 




JOHN C. CALHOUN. 



CHEROKEES IN GEORGIA. 207 

attempt to collect the duties by force, it ought to be resisted. 
The legislature confirmed the action of the convention, 
claiming the right to secede from the Union, and prepared 
for an armed resistance. On the receipt of this news Jack- 
son issued his Nullification Proclamation, approved by almost 
every one at the North, and sent a naval force to collect 
duties in the harbor of Charleston. He also warned the 
South Carolinians that the laws of the United States would 
be enforced at any risk. Every one knew Jackson meant 
what he said, and South Carolina delayed action. The 
matter now came up on the floor of Congress. The President 
was authorized to use force if necessary, and through the 
influence of Henry Clay, a compromise tariff bill was passed 
under which duties were to be reduced gradually until 1842, 
when a uniform rate would be reached which would practi- 
cally amount to a tariff for revenue only. Both parties 
claimed a victory — the North because the President had 
been authorized to use force, and complete free trade had 
not been secured ; South Carolina, because she had not given 
up the principle of state rights, or state sovereignty, as it is 
more accurately termed. 

. 228. Cherokees in Georgia. (1830-1838.) — Meanwhile the 
difficulties with the Indians had been partly settled by the 
removal of the Creeks beyond the Mississippi (sect. 216). 
The Cherokees had, however, still remained in Georgia, and 
the Seminoles in Florida. Both were unwilling to change 
their abodes. Jackson was an old Indian fighter, and had no 
sympathy whatever with the Indians, and when the state of 
Georgia tried to get possession of the lands of the Cherokees, 
he made no objection, neither attempting to carry out the 
treaties of the United States with the tribe, nor enforcing a 
decree of the Supreme Court which was in favor of the Cher- 



208 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

okees. On this occasion he is reported to have said, '' John 
Marshall [the Chief Justice] has made his decision ; now let 
him enforce it." The discovery of gold within the Indian 
reservation hastened the action of the state authorities, who 
proceeded to divide the land of the Indians and dispose of it 
by lottery. Finally the United States commissioners forced 
a treaty from the Indians, in accordance with which the tribes 
received a large sum of money for their lands, and in 1838 
they were driven from their homes at the point of the bayo- 
net, and were moved under the supervision of militar}^ forces 
to the place tliey now occupy in the Indian Territory. Dur- 
ing the journey, which took about five months, nearly four 
thousand, about one-fourth of the whole number, perished by 
the way. This is only another example of the inconsistent 
and even cruel legislation which the United States has so 
often practised towards the Indians. The Cherokees were 
civilized, many somewhat educated, and by their treaty with 
the government they had the right to rule themselves. On 
the other hand, as Jackson pointed out, it Avas an anomaly 
for an independent government to exist within a state. 
The fault seems originally to have been on the part of the 
United States in making such a treaty, but as usual, the 
Indians were the sufferers. 

229. " Black Hawk War " ; the Seminoles ; Osceola. (1832- 
1842.) — In developing the lead mines of Illinois and Wis- 
consin the lands of the Winnebagoes and of the Sacs and 
Foxes were overrun. This led to what is known as the Black 
Hawk War (1832), from the name of the noted Indian chief 
who was a leader in it. After a border warfare, in which 
the young Abraham Lincoln participated, the Indians were 
overcome and made a treaty by which they gave up about 
ten million acres of land in return for yearly supplies and an 



MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT. 209 

annuity in money. The Seminoles, who lived in Georgia and 
in Florida, had refused to be removed west in accordance with 
the arrangements made by the United States. Florida was 
also a great refuge for runaway slaves whose capture there 
became almost hopeless. The Seminoles refused to give up 
these refugees and frequently intermarried with them. The 
principal Seminole chief, Osceola, a half-breed, had married a 
woman who was herself also a half-breed, and while on a visit 
to a fort with her husband, although she had been born in 
Florida, she was claimed as a slave by a Georgian, the old 
owner of her mother, and she was seized and carried away 
into slavery. It is almost needless to add that Osceola 
vowed revenge. An Indian war was the result. Osceola 
was captured by treachery, and then placed in confinement, 
first at St. Augustine, Florida, and then at Charleston, South 
Carolina, where he died. The war dragged on for seven years 
(1835-1842), and was marked with many incidents of greater 
cruelty and horror than is usual in even Indian warfare. 
After costing the United States about thirty millions of 
dollars, besides a great loss of life on both sides, the Semi- 
noles were subdued by General Zachary Taylor. Still later 
most of the Seminoles who were left were removed to the 
Indian Territory. 

230. Material Development. (1837.) — " The reign of An- 
drew Jackson," as it has been sometimes called, not only 
marks an epoch in the political history of the country, but 
also in material, in intellectual, and in social matters as well. 
From this time may be dated the practical employment of 
many things which have had a vital influence upon the 
development of the country. The successful application of 
steam to the loom had greatly stimulated manufactures ; the 
invention of Fulton had been greatly improved, until now the 



210 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



rivers were crowded with steamboats laden with grain, cotton, 
and other products ; the Savannah^ crossing the ocean in 
1819, had shown the feasibility of ocean steam navigation, bnt 
the means of land transportation had been little, if any, 
improved since colonial days. Cities and towns upon navig- 
able streams and bays received their supplies largely by water, 
and imported and manufactured goods were distributed in the 
same way. In Pennsylvania and western Maryland, where 
the roads were comparatively good, there was an extensive 




THE "SAVANNAH. 



wagon trade carried on with the interior by means of '' Cones- 
toga" wagons, as they were called. These were large vehicles 
with covers of canvas, or of strong white cotton cloth, and 
were drawn by four, six, or even eight horses. In these 
wagons farm products of all kinds were brought to Phila- 
delphia and Baltimore, and goods needed by the country 
people were carried back. It was to a great extent this trade 
that enabled Philadelphia to keep ahead of New York until 
after 1810, and which made Baltimore one of the great flour 
markets of the world. A few inns with their long stable 
yards, where these wagoners used to put up, are still to be 
seen in Philadelphia and Baltimore. In general, however. 



EFFECT OF STEAM AND ELECTRICITY. 



211 



except where there was river or canal communication, or 
where the '' National Road " offered its smooth path, there was 
comparatively little intercourse between different parts of the 
country. To go to Boston from Washington in ten days was 
thought fast travelling. It can easily be seen that there was 
small inducement to seek new homes in the West, in spite of 
the stories of the great fertility of the land ; for not only was 



^^^-■v. 







CONESTOGA" WAGON, AND STAGE-COACH. 



it difficult to reach that country, but once there, it was 
impracticable to send the products of the farm to the market. 

231. Effect of Steam and Electricity. (1837.) — The great 
ignorance which prevailed in regard to the West and its 
resources was chiefly owing to this difficulty of intercourse. 
The vastness of the country was believed to be a great evil 
by many sober-minded men, who thought it was a question 
worthy of consideration where a dividing line between the 



212 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

United States and a new western nation sliould be placed. A 
republican form of government was thought by these persons 
to be impracticable for a large country. That such has not 
proved true is owing, not only to the ability of the Anglo- 
Saxon race, and to its genius for self-government, — though 
these have been of importance, — but it has been also largely 
due to the successful application of steam and electricity, 
whereby time and space have, for many purposes, been almost 
annihilated. In this way New York and San Francisco are 
nearer now than New York and Boston were in 1820. Of 
course these things did not come all at once, but compared 
with the years immediately preceding, the progress was rapid. 

232. Railroads. (1837.) — The railway at Quincy, Massa- 
chusetts, seems to have been the first in the United States. 
It was about two miles long, and consisted of iron strips 
nailed on two parallel wooden timbers. It Avas used to carry 
stone for building Bunker Hill Monument; this was in 1826. 
In 1827 a railway was built at Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania; 
the cars here were drawn up by horses, and descended by 
gravity on their return. In 1828 the first passenger railway, 
the Baltimore and Ohio, was begun, but horse power was 
employed at first. In the same year a locomotive built by 
George Stephenson, the great English engineer, was imported 
from England, and used by the Delaware and Hudson Canal 
Company, on a road in connection with their mines. It 
was not for several years that a successful locomotive was 
constructed in the United States. The American designers 
in making locomotives very soon adapted them to the peculiar 
requirements of existing conditions of country and roadbeds. 
The American people were not slow to see the possibilities 
of railways, and the increase in the number of railroads was 
rapid. There were two or three miles of track in 1826; in 



RAILROADS; REAPERS; COAL. 213 

1837 there were 1500 miles in actual working operation, and 
many more miles were under construction. From that time 
to the present there has been no cessation of building, until 
in many parts the country is covered with a network of 
roads, and long lines stretch over the land in all directions, 
joining the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Great Lakes and 
the Gulf of Mexico, and offering opportunities for frequent 
and close intercourse. The railway not only made communi- 
cation easy in the old states, but it also made the rapid and 
profitable settlement of the great west possible. By it the 
country was opened to the settler ; it carried him to the edge 
of civilization, and then took back his crops cheaply, securely, 
and rapidly to a good market. Wherever the railroad went, 
there villages and towns and cities sprung up like magic, 
and where water communication has been present in addition 
to other natural advantages of position, as is the case with 
Chicago, the growth has been unparalleled. ^ 

233. Reapers ; Coal. (1837.) — But it was not only rail- 
roads and steamboats that aided in developing the country. 
The broad fields of the western farmer suggested better means 
for cultivating and gathering in the crops. In 1833 Obed 
Hussey of Cincinnati patei:jted a reaping-machine, which did 
fairly good work, and in 1834 Cyrus McCormick of Chicago 
patented another reaper, which closely resembled those now 
in use. Improved plows, harrows, drills, and other imple- 
ments followed as occasion called for them. 

Anthracite or hard coal had been known since 1768, but it 
was little used until 1820, when a satisfactory method of 
burning it became generally known. An abundance of cheap 
fuel in close proximity to the coal mines, vastly increased 

1 Chicago ill 1833 consisted of a single fort ; in 1890 it liad over a million 
inhabitants. 



214 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



the production of iron, and the coal and iron of Pennsylvania 
have made her one of the wealthiest states of the Union. It 
was soon discovered that coal could be used on the loco- 
motives and steamboats, and after 1837, to a great extent, it 
took the place of wood, the economy of space, as well as its 
great steam-producing power, bringing it into general use. 

234. Matches ; Gas ; Water ; Propellers. (1820-1838.) — In 

1838 friction matches began to be used, a small matter appar- 
ently, but one which has added 
greatly to the comfort of the 
household. Gas, as a means 
of lighting dwelling-houses and 
streets, had been introduced 
into most of the large cities and 
towns, and waterworks were tak- 
ing the place of wells, not only 
: for the purpose of obtaining 
purer water for drinking, but 
also for supplying a means for 
extinguishing fires.^ In 1836 the 
screw propeller, instead of side- 
wheels, as a means for propelling a vessel, was successfully 
introduced by John Ericsson, a Swedish engineer, Avho had 
emigrated to this country. Economy in fuel, and in space, 
and also in power from the fact that the propeller under 
ordinary conditions is always under water, gradually brought 
this invention into use, until it has already displaced side- 
wheels in ocean navigation, and has revolutionized the navies 
of the world. 

1 Schuylkill water was brought into Philadelphia in 1812, Croton water 
into New York in 1842, Cocliituate water into Boston in 1845. The first city 
in the United States to be lighted by gas was Baltimore, where it was intro- 
duced in 181G. 




JOHN ERICSSON. 



I 



ASYLUMS; EDUCATION; NEWSPAPERS. 215 

235. Asylums for the Blind, Insane, Deaf-Mutes. (1837.) — 

But it was not only in material matters that the country was 
advancing. In 1832 the first asylum for the blind in America 
Avas opened, and the education of these afflicted persons 
begun in earnest, and with success. They were soon taught 
to read books with raised letters, printed especially for them, 
and also to do many other things of which they had hitherto 
been thought incapable. Asylums for deaf-mutes had al- 
ready been established, and great improvements had been 
made in the care and treatment of the insane. Prison 
reforms were studied and various methods for bettering the 
condition of the prisoners were discussed and adopted. 

236. Education; Newspapers. (1833-1841.)— Marked im- 
provements were made in the common school system. This 
was particularly the case in the newer states, where every 
effort was made to secure the best methods and the best 
instruction possible. In Massachusetts two normal schools 
for the training of teachers were founded in 1839, the first of 
a long series of similar institutions. In the South, though 
the University of Virginia, with one or two other colleges, 
had a good reputation among institutions of higher education, 
the few elementary schools failed to provide for the educa- 
tion of the children. 

Newspapers were established lower in price and more con- 
venient in form. Their character was changed also ; more 
energy was displayed in conducting them, and the discussions 
of topics were less dignified and more independent. Of the 
New York daily papers the Sun^ founded in 1833, the Herald, in 
1835, and the Tribune, in 1841, are examples of the new style. 

237. Literature; Oratory. (1837.) — Up to about 1830 the 
native literature of America had been largely political or 
theological ; most books on other subjects were either reprints 



216 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

of English works or importations. But a few native writers, 
as William Cullen Bryant, Charles Brockden Brown, Wash- 
ington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, and Fitz-Greene 
Halleck, and also the establishment of the North American 
Revietv in 1815, gave a promise for the future which soon 
began to be fulfilled, for Whittier, Longfellow, Holmes, Poe, 
Hawthorne, Emerson, Prescott, and George Bancroft all 
began to publish before the end of Jackson's second term. 

In oratory Daniel Webster has never been surpassed in 
this country, and his speech in the United States Senate in 
1830, in answer to Robert Y. Hayne of South Carolina, is 
considered a masterpiece of oratory. John C. Calhoun of 
South Carolina was another great orator; his power lay 
chiefly in the skill with which he could arrange his argu- 
ments ; and few men were more dreaded as an opponent. 
Henry Clay, the other great orator of those days, had a 
wonderful personal influence and a persuasive voice, which, 
while he was speaking, seemed to carry all before him. 

238. Temperance Reform. (1826-1837.) —Among other re- 
forms that were taken up earnestly was that of temperance. 
In 1826 the American Temperance Society was organized at 
Boston. This society was the first to proclaim the doctrine 
of total abstinence, for hitherto moderation in drinking had 
been the point urged by speakers on temperance. The new 
society was active in spreading its doctrines by means of 
public lecturers and in other ways, so that numerous similar 
organizations were soon formed. The Washingtonian move- 
ment was started at Baltimore in 1840 ; it was primarily an 
effort to aid in the reformation of drunkards, and from the 
members of the society a pledge of total abstinence was re- 
quired. John B. Gough, the great temperance orator, began 
to lecture under the auspices of these societies. 




DANIEL WEBSTER. 



RISE OF THE ABOLITIONISTS. 217 

239. Rise of the Abolitionists. — The very important Anti- 
slavery movement began about this time. This might per- 
haps be more properly called the rise of the Abolitionists. 
It has been seen already that the early statesmen of America, 
almost without exception, disapproved of slavery and looked 
forward to its abolition in the not far-distant future. It has 
also been seen (sect. 159) that the invention and employ- 
ment of Eli Whitney's cotton-gin had changed the feeling 
towards slavery in the southern states. The object of those 
in the free states who had taken any interest in the matter 
had been to confine slavery within the limits it already occu- 
pied and to prevent its extension ; even the antislavery men 
had done little more than support a scheme of gradual eman- 
cipation, or of colonization in Africa. But in 1831 William 
Lloyd Garrison began in Boston the publication of a paper 
called The Liberator^ in which he advocated an immediate 
and unconditional emancipation. He was an agitator rather 
than a real reformer, and cannot be ranked as a statesman, 
as is shown by his denunciation of the Constitution, calling 
it a " covenant with death and an agreement with hell." He 
was soon joined by others, who formed with him the New- 
England, and still later, the American, Antislavery Society. 
Other societies soon followed, and the work of pushing their 
opinions was begun. This was done by means of lectures 
and speeches, and by the circulation of a mass of literature 
through the mails. The Abolitionists insisted upon being 
heard, and the effect produced was altogether out of propor- 
tion to their numbers. 

240. " Nat Turner Insurrection " ; " Incendiary Publications." 
(1831-1836.) — It was a time of unrest and uneasy feeling; 
many things were taking place which caused much mis- 
giving. In 1831 an insurrection of the slaves in Vir- 



218 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

ginia, led by a negro called Nat Turner, though it was soon 
put down, alarmed the South greatly, and called the atten- 
tion of the whole country to the slavery question. The 
South insisted that abolition documents should be kept out 
of the mails, and Jackson himself, in 1835, recommended in 
his message to Congress, that the circulation through the 
mails of " incendiary publications intended to instigate the 
slaves to insurrection " should be prohibited under severe 
penalties. Many postmasters, however, on their own respon- 
sibility, threw out such matter as they deemed incendiary, 
and their action was unnoticed by the Post Office Depart- 
ment. 

In addition to spreading abroad their publications, the 
Abolitionists began to petition Congress on the subject of 
abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia. After a hot 
discussion, the House of Representatives resolved to receive 
no communications whatsoever in respect to slavery, regard- 
less of the fact that such action attacked the right of all 
petition whatever. For the support of this constitutional 
right, an able champion in the House of Representatives Avas 
found in John Quincy Adams, who, in spite of ridicule, scorn, 
and vituperation, insisted on presenting petitions until the 
" gag resolutions," as they were called, were repealed ; but 
this was not until 1844. Amidst much that was objection- 
able, it is now clear that the Abolitionists were right on the 
main question ; and while for the moment they probably in- 
jured rather than benefited the slaves, they succeeded in 
bringing the subject before the free states, whose people 
began to realize, as they never had done before, the incon- 
sistency of slavery with the principles of the Arxierican sys- 
tem of government, and with the economic conditions which 
prevailed in the country. On the other hand, the move- 
ment naturally tended to unite the South. Few, however, 



FOREIGN AFFAIRS; VAN BUREN ELECTED. 219 

saw as clearly as did John Quincy Adams, who wrote at this 
time : " Slavery is in all probabilit}^ the wedge which will 
ultimately split up this Union." 

241. Foreign Affairs; Surplus Revenue. (1829-1837.) — 
Jackson's administration of the foreign affairs of the United 
States was very successful. He forced France by his firm 
attitude to settle spoliation claims of long standing, which 
made other nations follow her example. It is an interesting 
circumstance that Great Britain played the part of mediator 
in the troubles with France. 

John Marshall, who had been Chief Justice of the United 
States since 1801 (sect. 168), died in 1835,^ and Jackson 
nominated as his successor Roger B. Taney of Maryland, who 
had been in his administration first Attorney-General and 
then Secretary of the Treasury (sect. 226). The Supreme 
Court about this time became Democratic in its political 
views, and remained so for nearly thirty years. 

In 1835 not only had all the debts due by the United States 
been paid, but there was a large surplus on hand and accumu- 
^ating, owing to the tariff and to the large receipts from the 
sale of public lands. The United States presented the almost 
unique spectacle of a country out of debt, and also having so 
much money as not to know what to do with it. A bill was 
passed in 1836 for distributing the surplus revenue among the 
states, according to population, and under this law $28,000,000 
were divided. 

242. Van Buren elected ; his Policy. (1837.) — In accord- 
ance with Jackson's wish. Van Buren was nominated for 
President, while Richard M. Johnson was chosen as candidate 

1 The Liberty Bell (sect. Ill) is said to have been cracked July 8, 1835, 
while it was being tolled for Marshall's death. 



220 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

for Vice-President. The Whigs, as the Anti-Jackson men 
now called themselves, made no regular nominations, but 
divided their vote among William Henry Harrison, Daniel 
Webster, Hugh L. White of Tennessee, and others. Van 
Buren was easily elected, but no one candidate receiving a 
majority for Vice-President, Johnson was chosen by the 
Senate in accordance with the constitutional provision. Thus 
" having beaten all his enemies, and rewarded all his friends, 
•Jackson retired from public life to his home in Tennessee." 
Martin Van Buren, a descendant of one of the old Dutch 

families, was born in New York, 
1782. His experience in political 
matters was wide ; for besides hold- 
ing a number of offices in his native 
state, he had been minister to Eng- 
land, senator, and Vice-President. 
He announced his policy to be the 
same as that of Jackson, saying 
his aim would be "to tread in the 
footsteps of his illustrious prede- 

MARTIN VAN BUREw. •,, xt p , , i i • 

cessor. Un fortunately this was 
impossible, and the errors of Jackson's administration re- 
coiled upon him. 

243. "Pet Banks"; "Panic of 1837." — When Jackson had 
ordered the cessation of the deposits in the United States 
Bank, certain banks in the different states were chosen as 
places of deposit ; good care was taken that those banks should 
be chosen whose directors were in harmony with the Presi- 
dent. Hence they were called " pet banks." As a result of 
this system of deposit, a large amount of money was thrown 
upon the open market here and there, and as has always been 
the case under such circumstances, speculation began, first in 




"PET BANKS"; "PANIC OF 1837." 221 

land, then in almost everything. Soon there was not money 
enough to meet the demand, and in order to supply it, the 
banks began to issue bills with but little gold or silver to 
redeem their notes should they be presented for redemption. 
New banks were formed on little or no capital, and bills were 
issued with little or no specie back of them. Still persons 
took the bills of these " wildcat banks " as long as they could 
get others to take them. All this had happened late in Jack- 
son's second term. When it appeared that the government 
was losing money by accepting in payment for public lands, 
bank bills which often turned out to be worthless, Jackson 
issued through the Secretary of the Treasury the " Specie 
Circular," which directed the government agents to receive 
nothing but gold in payment for land sold. As a large part 
of speculation was in public land, the effect of this order was 
quickly felt. Purchase of land was greatly curtailed, and 
there being no use for the " wildcat " bank-bills, they came 
back to the banks for redemption ; but there was no gold nor 
silver with which to redeem them, and the banks failed: 
owners of land hastened to offer it for sale, but nobody wished 
to buy ; prices went down rapidly, and soon a panic existed in 
all branches of trade. This "panic of 1837 " was one of the 
worst commercial crises the country has ever known ; it lasted 
for over a year, and affected all classes of the community. 
Even the national government did not escape ; so much did 
the receipts fall off that not only did the Secretary of the 
Treasury have to suspend the payment of the surplus ordered 
to be divided among the states, but the fourth instalment 
was never paid at all, and Van Buren had to call a special 
session of Congress to devise means for raising funds to carry 
on the government. This was done by authorizing the 
Treasury Department to issue notes to the extent of 
110,000,000. 



222 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

244. State Enterprises ; Repudiation. (1837.) — The spirit of 
expansion was not confined to individuals ; states undertook 
the construction of canals, railroads, and other public works. 
To pay for these they issued bonds, but in consequence of the 
panic they could not raise money to pay their obligations. In 
some instances the money had been squandered, in some the 
agents of the states had proved unfaithful, in others the 
works had been projected upon a scale that was unprofitable. 
Taking advantage of the eleventh amendment to the Con- 
stitution, which forbids a state to be sued by individuals, some 
of the states refused to pay their debts altogether, which action 
is called " repudiation." When better times came, some of 
the states which had failed to pay the interest on the debts, 
as Pennsylvania, paid up their back debts. Others liave 
never done so. As a considerable portion of these state debts 
were held in Europe, it gave American credit a severe blow, 
and for some time it was almost impossible to place any loans 
whatever abroad ; even in 1842 the United States government 
found itself unable to place a loan in Europe, so low had 
American credit fallen. 

245. Sub-Treasury established. (1840.)— To remedy the 
difficulties that had occurred through Jackson's system of 
"pet" banks, Van Buren proposed the Sub-Treasury system, 
which would allow the government to do its own banking and 
sever all " connection between the government and the banks 
of issue." In accordance with this plan all money received 
by the government agents was to be paid over to officers 
called Sub-Treasurers, who were to be required to give lieavy 
bonds for their good behavior and honesty. These officers 
were to pay out the moneys on requisition from the Treasury 
Department. As was natural, the Whigs, one of whose cardi- 
nal doctrines was the re-establishment of a United States 



t 



I 



CANADIAN UPRISING; ABOLITION MOVEMENT. 223 

Bank, opposed this plan, and ably led by Clay and Webster, 
succeeded in postponing its adoption until 1840. Repealed 
in 1841, it was again adopted in 1846, and is still in force. 
Fairly Avell as this plan has worked in many respects, there 
are serious objections to it, the chief being that often there is 
a large amount of money locked up in the government vaults 
which it is impossible to get into circulation except by periodi- 
cal payments of interest, through the payment of salaries, or 
the rather questionable purchase of its own bonds by the 
government. In times of financial pressure the withdrawal of 
so much money from the market is often found to be a great 
evil. The system is also called " the Independent Treasury." 

246. Canadian Uprising. (1837-1838.) —In 1837-1838 there 
was an uprising in Canada against the British government. 
Many in the United States, particularly along its border, sym- 
pathized with the Canadians, and meetings were held, and 
money and arms contributed in aid of the cause. The Presi- 
dent, however, issued a proclamation warning American citi- 
zens not to interfere in Canadian affairs, and also sent General 
Scott to the border to watch the course of events. This action 
proved enough to stop what threatened to be a serious trouble 
with Great Britain. 

247. Riots; Abolition Movement. (1834-1840.) — Meanwhile 
the Abolition movement had grown, but on various grounds 
there was much opposition to it in the North, manifested as 
early as 1834 by a riot in New York, and in the same year by 
one in Philadelphia. In 1835 a meeting of the Women's 
Antislavery Society at Boston was broken up by a mob, and 
Garrison, who was present, was dragged through the streets 
with a rope around his body, but was rescued and put in jail 
for protection. In 1837 Elijah P. Lovejoy, the publisher ol 



224 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

an antislavery paper, was fatally shot in front of his office in 
Alton, Illinois, after the roof of the building had been set on 
fire by a mob. In Philadelphia, in 1838, the office of the 
Pennsylvania Freeman was destroyed by a mob, and Pennsyl- 
vania Hall, in which the office was situated, was burnt. The 
poet Whittier, who was editor of the paper, lost all his books 
and papers, and narrowly escaped being mobbed. In the 
South the action of the Abolitionists naturally created much 
excitement; Georgia in 1831 offered a reward of $5000 for 
the apprehension of Garrison ; in Louisiana at one time, a 
vigilance connnittee offered f 50,000 for the delivery of Arthur 
Tappan, a prominent member of the party ; while Mississippi 
offered !f>5000 for the arrest of any one circulating the Liber- 
ator or like papers. In 1839 the Abolitionists split, many of 
them being unwilling to follow Garrison in his extreme 
views. In 1840 the " Liberty Party " was formed. 

248. "Tippecanoe and Tyler too." (1840.) — As is not 
unusual, the national administration had to suffer for what 
it was not blameworthy. The panic of 1837 was a severe 
blow to Van Buren and his party. A slight return of the 
panic in 1839 completed the work; and though his party 
stood manfully by him and re-nominated him for the Presi- 
dency, he was defeated by the Whigs, who had nominated as 
their candidates William Henry Harrison, the hero of Tippe- 
canoe, a battle in the Indian war in 1811 (sect. 182), and 
John Tyler of Virginia. This political campaign was the 
first of the style, since so familiar, having processions, songs, 
torchlights, mass meetings, etc. In ridicule of Harrison some 
one said, " Give him a log cabin and a barrel of hard cider, 
and he will be satisfied." Tliis was in allusion to Harrison's 
frontier life. So far from accomplishing its purpose, the cry 
was immediately taken up as a watchword, and miniature 



HARRISON DIES; TYLER'S COURSE. 225 

log cabins and barrels of hard cider were seen everywhere. 
So, like Jackson, on a wave of enthusiasm, " Tippecanoe and 
Tyler too " were triumphantly elected. The Liberty Party had 
put up candidates, but they received an insignificant vote. 

248. Harrison dies; Tyler's Course. (1841.) -- Harrison, 
born in 1773, was already an old man; much of his life had 
been passed on the frontier, where he had seen hard service, 
though he was not unfamiliar with political life, having been 
a member of the House of Representatives, governor of 
Indiana Territory, a senator, min- 
ister to Colombia, South America, 
etc. How he would have filled 
the office of President cannot be 
known ; for worn out by the many 
demands upon his strength, chiefly 
the result of the throng of office- 
seekers, he sank under an attack 
of illness and died exactly one 
month after his inauguration. In 
accordance with the Constitution '^"■'■"''' ''^''^'' harrison. 
the Vice-President assumed the duties of President. John 
Tyler of Virginia, the first Vice-President who had suc- 
ceeded to the Presidency, had been nominated by the Whigs 
with Harrison, to gain southern votes. He was Democratic 
in his opinions, but opposed Jackson's views on nullification.! 
Bitterly did the Whigs repent the policy which gave them 
their "accidental President." Harrison had called an extra 
session of Congress to consider what should be done to 
improve the financial state of the country. At this session, 
the Whigs soon passed a bill for the establishment of a new 
Bank of the United States ; to their dismay Tyler vetoed it, 

^ Tyler died in 1862, a member of the Confederate Congress. 





226 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

and their majority was not large enough to override the veto. 
After consultation with the President, they passed another 
bill framed to meet his objections, but this bill he vetoed 
also. Upon this, all the Cabinet resigned, except Webster, 
who was carrying on negotiations with Great Britain, and 

there Avas open war between Tyler 
and the party who had elected him. 

250. Treaty with Great Britain; 
Extradition. (1842.) — There were 
several difficulties with the British 
government which had long been 
unsettled, and to these Webster, 
whom Harrison had appointed Sec- 
retary of State, turned his atten- 

JOHN TYLER. . . T . l P. 1 • . 

tion immediately alter his entrance 
upon office. They were the northwest boundary between 
the United States and the British possessions, which had 
never been clearly defined ; the right which England still 
claimed to search vessels in order to impress sailors, and the 
right of search foi- the suppression of the slave trade ; and 
added to these old questions were new ones raised by the 
recent Canadian rebellion in 1837. Lord Ashburton, a mem- 
ber of the well-known Baring family, was sent to represent 
the English government, and the treaty agreed upon is known 
from him as the Ashburton Treaty. By the terms of tlie 
treaty a new boundary line between Maine and New Hamp- 
shire on the one side and Canada on the other was agreed 
upon, and the claims of Massachusetts and Maine were settled 
by a money payment to them by the United States. As the 
New Englanders thought Great Britain was favored, and 
Great Britain that New England had the advantage, the 
settlement was probably fair to ])oth nations. Besides the 



TREATY WITH GREAT BRITAIN; DORR WAR. 227 

boundary question, the Canadian difficulties were arranged, 
and also provision made for the return, by either country, of 
criminals fleeing from justice. This clause only covered a 
few of the grosser crimes, but it was a good beginning ; for 
the principle had only partly been recognized before, and 
this action led the way in affirming that the prosecution and 
punishment of criminals is a matter of international welfare. 
The right of search was passed over, but a declaration by 
Webster that sailors in American ships would " find their 
protection in the flag which is over them," was taken to 
mean that the United States would fight if an attempt was 
made to renew the practice in vogue before the War of 1812. 
In regard to the right of search for the suppression of the 
slave trade, it was agreed that each nation should keep 
vessels cruising off the coast of Africa, and should work in 
harmony for the putting down of that traffic. Thus by this 
negotiation war was averted, disputes of long standing were 
settled, and honorable arrangements entered into for the pre- 
vention of crime and punishment of criminals. Few things 
reflect greater credit upon Webster than his course in this 
matter. He soon resigned his position as secretary, and the 
next Congress having a Democratic majority, the Whigs' 
short lease of power was over. 

251. Dorr War ; Anti-Renters. (1840-1842.)— When Rhode 
Island entered the Union, she brought with her the old colo- 
nial charter granted by Charles II. (sect. 19). It was liberal 
for the age in which it was granted, as is .shown by the fact 
that it lasted for two hundred years. Under it the General 
Assembly of the state at the suggestion of the king re- 
stricted the suffrage by imposing a property qualification, 
except in the case of the eldest sons of voters. The result 
was that only about one-third of those who in other states 



228 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

would have had the privilege of voting had that right in 
Rhode Island. The representation in the Assembly also was 
very unfair, having remained unchanged since 1663. From 
time to time petitions to enlarge the basis of suffrage Avere 
made to the legislature by the disfranchised class, but these 
having proved unavailing, the discontented called a conven- 
tion in 1841 to prepare a new constitution, claiming this pro- 
cedure as a right belonging to free American citizens. This 
proposed constitution was submitted to a po23ular vote, to be 
cast regardless of the legal provisions regulating the suffrage. 
A convention called by the order of the legislature also pre- 
pared a new constitution, which was submitted to legal voters 
and rejected by them. The reformers declared their docu- 
ment accepted, and so at the time for the election of state 
officers, each party elected a set of officials. The reformers 
chose Thomas W. Dorr governor, and he proceeded to enter 
upon the duties of such an office May, 1842. The legal gov- 
ernor and his party denounced Dorr and his party, appealed 
to the President of the United States, and called out the 
militia. The President increased the garrison of the fort at 
Newport, and sent the Secretary of War to watch the affair. 
When Dorr found that it was possible that the United States 
forces might be arrayed against him, and that his small body 
of troops was melting away, he fled, and returning to the 
state in 1844, surrendered, was tried for treason, and con- 
demned to life imprisonment. He w^as, however, released 
the next year (1845), under an amnesty bill of the legisla- 
ture. Taught by. experience, the legislature had called a 
new convention, in which non-voters under the law Avere 
allowed to be represented ; a new and more liberal consti- 
tution was drawn up and afterwards (1842) adopted by a 
popular vote in which Azotes of men who were to be enfran- 
chised were received, and so the ''Dorr War" came to an 



TELEGRAPH ; ANESTHETICS. 



229 



end without bloodshed.^ Some of the descendants of the old 
Dutch patroons in New York (sect. 35) still held the lands 
granted to their ancestors, and claimed from the tenants pay- 
ment of the old annual dues in produce. A growing dissatis- 
faction with this arrangement had existed among the tenants, 
who at last, about 1840, refused to pay rent. The militia 
were called out to aid in its collection, and this is known 
as the " Helderberg War." In 
1847 and in 1850, a political ;, 

faction known as the "Anti- -^ i, v^,.^ 

Renters " made its appearance. 
Finally the matter was com- ^ -^^^ 

promised — the owners offered 
to sell their rights at a fair fig- 
ure, the tenants bought them, 
and this relic of feudalism 
passed away. 







SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 



252. Telegraph; Anaesthetics. 
( 1827 - 1846 . ) — Activity of 
thought was not only mani- 
fested in social and political 
matters, but also in the field of 
science. Samuel F. B. Morse, an American artist, having 
had his attention turned to electricity as a means for trans- 
mitting messages over wires, took out a patent for a system 
devised by him for this purpose in 1827. Money was lacking, 
but after long efforts, during the closing hours of a session 
of Congress, an appropriation of 130,000 was made to assist 
him in testing the invention. In 1844, with this money a 

^ In 1888 an amendment to the constitution of the state greatly enlarged 
the suffrage, and in 1893 other restrictions were removed. All the Dorr 
party desired has now been obtained, and more. 



230 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

line was set up between Baltimore and Washington, which are 
forty miles apart, and his plan proved an entire success. The 
first message sent was, " What hath God wrought ? " The 
telegraph, in connection with steam, has to a Avonderful degree 
changed the way of doing business. The merchant now has 
the prices of the markets of the w^orld before him every morn- 
ing, and can buy and sell during the same day in places with 
which less than fifty years ago it took months to communicate.^ 
The important discovery was made, between 1840 and 
1846, that the inhalation of the vapor of sulphuric ether 
would produce insensibility to pain, and that, while under 
its influence, the most difficult surgical operations could be 
performed upon a patient safely, painlessly, and Avithout his 
knowledge. The honor of this great discovery has been 
claimed by three physicians, AVilliam T. G. Morton and 
Charles T. Jackson of Massachusetts and C. W. Long of 
Georgia. The exact amount of credit due to each of these 
is difficult to determine. Dr. Horace Wells, of Hartford, 
Connnecticut, demonstrated in 1844 that nitrous oxide, or 
laughing gas, would produce insensibility to pain. Sub- 
stances having the effects described are called ana3Sthetics. 

253. The Mormons. (1830-1844.) —The restlessness of the 
age was also shown in the rise of new sects and of socialistic 
bodies. Among the former were the Mormons, or " Latter- 
Day Saints." The founder, Joseph Smith, of western New 
York, professed to have received a revelation telling him that 
in a certain hill he would find a book written upon gold 
plates which would contain a history of the former inhab- 

1 Wheatstone, an Englishman, and another European scientist, invented, 
independently of Morse and of each other, and about the same time, ma- 
chines somewhat similar ; but Morse's instrument was the most practical, 
has been most generally adopted, and to him the priority of the invention is 
most generally accorded. 



THE MORMOXS. 231 

itants of America, and a -revelation of the Gospel. Witli 
these plates he claimed to have found " two stones in silver 
bows which had been prepared for the purpose of trans- 
lating the book." This work he published in 1830, under 
the title of the Book of Mormon. He and some associates 
began to gather a little church about them. They accepted 
the Bible, but claimed that the Book of Mormon was a 
supplement to it, and they also held that future revelations 
supplementary to the Bible and to the Book of Mormon 
might be made. As these must come through the Prophet, 
or the head of the church, and were to be implicitly obeyed, 
the head of the Mormon church practically held absolute 
power.^ Smith and his followers soon moved to Ohio, and 
thence to Missouri, being compelled to leave on account of 
the failure of a bank in which he ^vas interested. Here he 
staid some time, and continued to gather adherents, until, 
becoming obnoxious to the people of Missouri for various 
reasons, and partly on account of their antislavery notions, 
they were forced to recross the Mississippi River into Illinois, 
and obtaininof a tract of land and a liberal charter from the 
legislature, they began to build a city, Nauvoo, on the banks 
of the. river. In 1843 a revelation was made, proclaiming 
polygamy as legal and even praiseworthy. The population 
of Nauvoo had now become about 15,000, and Smith de- 
clined to have the state laws executed within his bounds. 
It was not long before there was a collision between Smith 
and the state authorities, and Smith and his brother, having 
surrendered to the governor, were placed in jail for safe 
keeping, but a mob overpowered the guard and shot the 
prisoners. 

1 It has been claimed that the Book of Mormon was written by a man 
named William Spaulding, of Connecticut, about 1810, and that a copy of 
the manuscript fell into Smith's hands. 



232 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

254. Mormons in Utah. (1846-1848.) — The opposition to 
the Mormons in no degree lessening, Brigham Young, a very 
able man, who had been chosen as Joseph Smith's successor, 
determined to lead the whole band to Utah in the far West, 
where they could carry out their laws and customs in peace. 
It Avas two years before the migration was completed, but 
in 1848 the whole band was settled in Utah beyond the 
Rocky Mountains near Great Salt Lake, where they founded 
Salt Lake City. They named their new state Deseret, which 
means, according to their interpretation, '' The Land of the 
Honey Bee." The Mormon government for many years was 
autocratic. The additions to their numbers were chiefly 
made from Great Britain, Norway, and Sweden, gathered by 
missionaries frequently sent out. The Mormons were most 
industrious, and soon had built a handsome city, and had 
brought the surrounding country under rich cultivation. 

255. The South and Texas. (1827-1836.) — By the treaty of 
1819-1821, by which the United States had acquired Florida, 
the western boundary of Louisiana was fixed at the river 
Sabine (sect. 199). The South, wishing to extend slavery, 
saw a promising field in Texas, which had become a part of 
Mexico. In 1827 and in 1829 the United States government 
had offered to buy Texas from Mexico, but the offers were 
declined, and indeed Mexico has seldom shown any disposition 
to part with a foot of her territory. Many American settlers, 
chiefly from the southern states, had migrated into Texas, 
taking their slaves with them. When Mexico, in 1824, abol- 
ished slavery, these settlers kept their slaves as before. In 
1836 the Texans revolted from Mexico, set up an independent 
state of their own, and expelled the Mexican forces. Of the 
fifty-seven signers of the Declaration of Texan Independence, 
fifty are said to have been from the southern states of the 



TEXAS ANNEXATION PUSHED. 233 

Union. The Texans, under General Sam Houston, defeated in 
the battle of San Jacinto the Mexicans led by Santa Anna, the 
Mexican Dictator, who was forced to recognize the indepen- 
dence of Texas; a recognition that the Mexicans disclaimed. 

256. Texas Annexation Pushed. (1837-1844.) — Owing 
largely to the disordered state of Mexican affairs, little or 
no effort was made to bring back Texas, though Mexico 
steadily refused to acknowledge her independence. In 1837 
the United States, and not long after, England, France, and 
Belgium, recognized Texas as an independent power. An 
inefficient government soon brought the new state almost 
to bankruptcy, and an annexation to the United States, which 
many persons think was intended all along, became a matter 
of as great interest to Texas and her creditors as to the 
southern slaveholders. In 1837, through her minister at 
Washington, the first application for admission to the Union 
was made. A proposition to this effect was rejected in the 
Senate, and nothing was done for some time. Meantime, 
between the land speculators who held quantities of land in 
Texas, of little worth under Texan rule, but sure of a large 
advance in value should she be admitted as one of the United 
States, and the politicians who wished to increase the land 
open to slavery, and also to increase the representation of the 
South in the Senate, Texan annexation was pushed in every 
possible way. 

It was a difficult undertaking, for neither the Whigs nor 
the Democrats of the North were in favor of it, and of course 
the small Liberty party was violently opposed to any such 
scheme. Van Buren, the most prominent man in the Demo- 
cratic party, came out against the plan, and in consequence, 
through the influence of the southern members of the party, 
failed of nomination as candidate for the Presidency. 



234 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

257. Polk elected; Admission of Texas. (1844-1845.)—^ 

The Democratic Convention, then sitting in Baltimore, chose 
James K. Polk, and his nomination was the first news sent 
over Morse's telegraph, just set up. Silas Wright in the same 
way received notice of his nomination as Vice-President, and 
declined it. The convention refused to believe the reply, 
and adjourned to the following day, until a messenger sent to 
verif}^ the tidings could return. Clay, the Whig candidate, 
also opposed annexation, but in his anxiety to gain south- 
ern votes published declarations 
^ which displeased the Liberty 

party and some northern Whigs. 
In the election wliich followed 
he lost thereby the great state of 
New York by a small majority, 
and with New York, the election. 
The result of the election was 
taken as approving of the annex- 
ation ; and accordingly, in the 
last hours of Tyler's administra- 
tion. Congress passed a resolution in favor of admitting 
Texas. Tyler signed the document and at once sent off a 
messenger to Texas with the news ; the proposition was 
accepted by Texas July 4, 1845, and in December of the 
same year she was formally admitted to the Union. The 
passage of a resolution which only required a majorit}' of 
votes, instead of a treaty which would have required a two- 
thirds vote, was a shrewd political device. Texas was the 
last slave state admitted, and she is the only truly inde- 
pendent state which has ever entered the Union, no others, 
not even the original thirteen, having ever exercised the 
power of making treaties, sending ambassadors, or making 
war. 




JAMES K. POLK. 



POLK'S MEASURES. 235 

258. Polk's Measures. (1845.) — James K. Polk, of Ten- 
nessee, was born in 1795, and had held various political 
offices, among them Speaker of the House of Representatives 
for four years. So the cry of the Whigs, " Who is James K. 
Polk?" had little to justify it. He was a man of excellent 
private character, but somewhat narrow in his political views, 
and a strong partisan. Tenacious of his ends, he was gener- 
ally successful in carrying out what he had planned. The 
four great measures which he placed before himself were : 
(1) reduction of the tariff ; (2) re-establishment of the Sub- 
Treasur}^ ; (3) settlement of the Oregon boundary question ; 
and (4) the acquisition of California. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE MEXICAN WAR AND SLAVERY. 
REFERENCES. 

General. — James Schouler, History of the United States, iv. 495-550, 
V. 1-335 ; James F. Rhodes, History of the United States, i. 8G-302, 384-506, 
ii. 1-168 ; Bryant and Gay, Popular History of the United States, iv. 369- 
418 ; Thomas H. Benton, Thirty Years' View, ii. 639-788 (to 1850) ; Horace 
Greeley, The American Conflict, i. 185-251 ; E. Channing, The United 
States, pp. 230-248; Goldwin Smith, The United States, pp. 210-234; 
W. Wilson, Division and Reunion (Epochs of American History), pp. 147- 
193 ; James G. Blaine, Twenty Years of Congress, i. 41-137. 

Biographies, — See references for Chap. xii. John Bigelow, John C. 
Fremont ; Edward L. Pierce, Charles Sumner ; John G. Nicolay and John 
Hay, Abraham Lincoln, i. 237-456, ii. 1-46. 

Special. — A. Johnston, American Politics, Chaps, xvi.-xviii. ; E. Stan- 
wood, History of Presidential Elections, Chaps, xvii., xviii. For Mexican 
War : William Jay, A Review of the Mexican War ; U. S. Grant, Personal 
Memoirs, i. 45-174 ; James Russell Lowell, Biglow Papers, first series. 
California and the Discovery of Gold : J. Royce, California, pp. 1-259 ; Cen- 
tury Magazine, vols, xl.-xliii. Slavery and Fugitive Slave Laws : J. J. Lalor, 
CyclopjEdia, iii. 722-738 ; Marion G. MacDougall (Fay House Monographs, 
Ginn & Co., Boston), Fugitive Slaves, 1619-1865 ; James F. Rhodes, History 
of the United States, i. 303-383 ; James Russell Lowell, Political Essays, 
pp. 1-16 ; James S. Pike, First Blows of the Civil War, pp. 1-300 ; Alex. H. 
Stephens, The War between the States, ii. 176-262; The Pro-Slavery Argu- 
ment. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin (annotated edition) ; 
J. F. Rhodes, History of the United States, i. 278-285 (for influence of Uncle 
Tom's Cabin) ; Frederick Law Olmstead, The Seaboard Slave States, Texas 
Journey, A Journey in the Back Country, The Cotton Kingdom (a summary 
of the three preceding) ; Frances Anne Kemble, Journal of a Residence 
on a Georgian Plantation, 1838-1839 ; Harriet Martineau, Society in Amer- 

236 



WAR WITH MEXICO. 237 

ica ; Thomas Nelson Page, The Old South ; N. S. Shaler, North -American 
Review, October, 1890. Compromise of 1850 : Schurz's Henry Clay, Chap, 
xxvi. ; Von Hoist's John C. Calhoun, pp. 335-350 ; Jefferson Davis, Rise and 
Fall of the Confederate Government, i. 14-22 r Alex. H. Stephens, The^ War 
betv^reen the States, ii. 198-240 ; A. Johnston, American Orations, ii. 3-134. 
Texas and New Mexico : L. Carr, Missouri, pp. 189-219. Oregon : William 
Barrows, Oregon ; J. J. Lalor, Cyclopsedia, ii. 1045-1048 ; Edinburgh Re- 
view, July, 1845 (Littell, vi. 302) ; "Whitman's Ride," Barrows's Oregon, 
pp. 160-178. Know-Nothing Party : J. J. Lalor, Cyclopaedia, i. 85-87. 
Kansas Conflict: Charles Robinson, The Kansas Conflict; L. W. Spring, 
Kansas, pp. 1-208 ; L, Carr, Missouri, pp. 241-250 ; Eli Thayer, The Kansas 
Crusade (containing many contemporary accounts); A. Johnston, American 
Orations, ii. 183-255. Ostend Manifesto : American History Leaflets, No. 2 ; 
N. Sargent, Public Men and Events, ii. 263-398. 

259. War with Mexico. (1846.) — With the annexation of 
Texas, the United States succeeded to a quarrel with Mexico. 
Texas claimed the Rio Grande as her southwestern boundary, 
while Mexico insisted that the Neuces River was the true 
division line. President Polk sent an envoy to Mexico, the 
effect of whose mission was to provoke Mexico into striking 
the first blow, for the Mexicans would have nothing to do 
with the envoy, and he returned from a fruitless errand. 
Meanwhile, General Zachary Taylor, with a small body of 
troops, had been ordered to Corpus Christi, on the borders of 
the disputed territory, and a little later to advance to Fort 
Brown (Brownsville), on the Rio Grande. The Mexicans 
naturally looked upon this as an invasion of their country, 
and ordered a body of troops across the river ; an engage- 
ment soon followed, and the Mexican War was begun. This 
was April 24, 1846. Polk, as soon as the news reached him, 
sent a message to Congress, in which he said : " War exists, 
notwithstanding all our efforts to avoid it, — exists by tlie 
act of Mexico herself." " Mexico has passed the boundary 
of the United States, has invaded our territory, and shed 
American blood upon American soil." Congress responded 



238 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

promptly by declaring that war existed " by the act of 
Mexico," by authorizing a call for 50,000 volunteers and 
expenditures for military supplies, and by appropriating large 
sum's to meet the expenses. ^ It was in relation to this mes- 
sage and two later ones in which the President re-asserted 
the charge that Mexico had invaded " our territory " and 
shed " the blood of our citizens on our own soil " that Abra- 
ham Lincoln, in tlie House of Representatives, introduced in 
1847 his " Spot Resolutions," calling upon the President to 
indicate the exact spot where this had taken place, and to 
inform the House whether the '' citizens " had not been 
armed soldiers, sent there by the President's own orders. 

260. Mexican Campaign ; New Mexico. (1846-1847.) — The 

whole campaign embraced four projects : (1) an attack uj)on 
Mexico from the north — this was entrusted to General 
Zachary Taylor; (2) an attack upon the city of Mexico — 
this General Winfield Scott led himself ; (3) an attack upon 
New Mexico, including what is now known as Arizona — this 
was made under the direction of General S. W. Kearney ; 
(4) an attack upon California by the fleet of American vessels 
which had been sent there in anticipation of war with Mexico. 
All these plans were carried out. General Taylor, mostly 
against heavy odds so far as numbers were concerned, defeated 
the Mexicans successfully at Monterey, and at Buena Vista 
(February 27, 1847) ; but the government, having determined 
to attack the capital, withdrew many of his men, and he 
was forced to cease operations. Before long, feeling himself 

1 It has been said that " the United States tried in vain to get a payment 
of what was due her citizens." The justice of these claims was very doubtful 
at best, and Mexico had done her utmost to pay them, the disordered con- 
dition of the country making it almost impossible to collect a revenue. 
When she thought she saw the meaning of the Texas negotiations, it was 
not unnatural that she should cease to make payment. 



MEXICAN CAMPAIGN; NEW MEXICO. 



239 



ill-used by the administration, he resigned his position. The 
United States, however, continued to hold northern Mexico. 
The expedition against New Mexico was entirely success- 
ful, and by the summer of 1846 it was controlled by United 




MAP OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 

States forces, and Kearney, leaving some troops to retain it, 
set off for California ; but before he reached it, news was 
received that it was already in the possession of the Ameri- 
cans, and he was only able to assist in putting down a rising 
of the Mexicans near Los Angeles. 



240 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

261. California Captured. (1845-1846.) — In the winter of 
1845 Captain John C. Fremont, then on a third exploring ex- 
pedition west of the Rocky Mountains, passed into California 
and took up the cause of the American settlers, who claimed 
to be oppressed by the Mexican governor. An independent 
government was set up, and through the co-operation of Fre- 
mont with Commodores Sloat and Stockton, who had cap- 
tured almost without a struggle the ports of Monterey, San 
Francisco, and Los Angeles, the whole of California fell into 
the hands of the United States. In this way the United 
States gained a possession of incalculable value. 

262. Scott's Campaign ; City of Mexico Captured. (1847.) — 
It being clear that the Mexicans were going to show great 
obstinacy, it was determined to attack the capital by a new 
route. In carrying out this plan, a large naval force with 
12,000 troops sailed for Vera Cruz, the port of the city of 
Mexico. After a bombardment of four days, the city, with 
the fort of San Juan de Ulloa, the strongest fortification in 
Mexico, surrendered. About the middle of April, 1847, Gen- 
eral Winlield Scott began his march to the city of Mexico 
from the same point and over nearly the same route as 
Cortez. His discipline, skill, and intelligence, and the excel- 
lence of his troops, proved superior to the much larger num- 
bers and far greater natural advantages of the Mexicans. 
The only serious resistance the American army met on its 
way to the vicinity of the city of Mexico was at Cerro 
Gordo, about fifty miles from Vera Cruz. Here, after a short 
conflict, the Mexicans under Santa Anna were driven back, 
and the victorious army continued its march. After several 
sharp battles in the immediate neighborhood of the city of 
Mexico, that city surrendered September 14, 1847, and the 
war was practically over. 



TERMS OF PEACE WITH MEXICO. 241 

263. Terms of Peace with Mexico. (1848.) — It was by no 
means easy to agree upon terms of permanent peace. The 
one thing upon which the Mexicans of all factions agreed 
was not to give up any territory, while territory was exactly 
what the United States had fought for. Moreover, she held 
the fairest provinces of Mexico and had no intention of 
returning them. After many fruitless negotiations, and a 
revolution in Mexico, a treaty was arranged in February, 
1848, at a little place near the capital called Guadalupe 
Hidalgo. By the terms the United States was to pay Mexico 
il5,000,000, satisfy claims of American citizens against her 
to the amount of about 13,500,000, and receive in return what 
was then the territory of New Mexico and Upper California. 
The Rio Grande was recognized as the boundary of Texas. 
By this treaty about 522,568 square miles of territory was 
added to the United States.^ 

The total cost to the United States of the Mexican War was 
in the neighborhood of f 100,000,000, besides the loss of life, 
which, while small on the battle-field or from wounds, was 
large from disease. Though successful in every encounter, 
the country had little reason to glory, for her successes were 
won in a questionable war against a weak and divided enemy. 
Had Mexico been a strong power, the United States govern- 
ment would not have dared to act as it did. There was at 
the time much opposition to the war, though not sufficient to 
prevent it.^ While it has been far better that the large terri- 

1 In consequence of a difficulty regarding the exact boundary, a treaty was 
negotiated with Mexico, through James Gadsden in 1853, by which 45,535 
square miles south of New Mexico were purchased from Mexico for the sum 
of $10;000,000. This tract is usually called the Gadsden Purchase. Texas 
had added 371,063 square miles, making the total of these additions 939,166 
square miles, sc> that again the United States had acquired more than the 
area of the original thirteen states. 

^Lowell's "Biglow Papers," Pirst Series, express this feeling very clearly. 



242 HISTORY OF THP: UNITED STATES. 

tory acquired should be under Anglo-Saxon control, there is 
little reason to doubt that it would soon have come under the 
rule of the United States through settlement, or purchase, or 
in some way less questionable than that which was followed. 

264. Oregon. (1815-1846.) — But it was not only the 
southern boundaries which were in dispute. The northeast- 
ern boundary difficulties with Great Britain had been settled 
in 1842, but at that time it had not seemed practicable to 
enter upon the question of the northwestern boundary, which 
was also in dispute. It was accordingly left for future nego- 
tiation, both countries maintaining a joint occupancy of the 
country west of the Rocky Mountains under an arrangement 
dating from 1815, and renewed from time to time. Very- 
little was known in the eastern states of the character of the 
Oregon country. Many able men thought its possession of 
little moment and were quite ready to yield it to England. 
Dr. Marcus Whitman, who had been sent out in 1835 by the 
American Board of Foreign Missions, had become familiar 
with the country, recognized its great value, and was anxious 
that the United States should gain undisputed control. In 
the fall of 1842 he learned that the Hudson's Bay Company, 
the great English monopoly, were encouraging English immi- 
gration, and that a lai'ge party of immigrants had already 
come. He at once determined to carry this news to Wash- 
ington, and at the same time inform the government and 
people of the great value of the Oregon country, and the 
practicability of reaching it by wagons, and so start a stream 
of emigrants that would take possession of the land. He 
left Oregon in October, 1842, and riding on horseback readied 
St. Louis in February, 1843. The dangers, the hairbreadtli 
escapes, and the indomitable perseverance which carried Dr. 
Whitman and his companion through this terrible winter ride 



OREGON. 243 

make a story not often surpassed in the annals of adventure. 
Dr. Whitman arrived at Washington to find the Ashburton 
Treaty had been signed six months before, but with the Ore- 
gon question unsettled. He supplied information of great 
importance to the government, circulated printed accounts oi 
Oregon, and took back with him a company of emigrants with 
two hundred wagons. Walla Walla was reached in safety, 
after a journey of four months, in October, 1843. This 
advance guard of American occupation was soon followed by 
detachments of other settlers. 

In the Presidential campaign of 1844, one of the Demo- 
cratic cries had been, " Fifty-four forty [54° 40'] or fight," 
that latitude being the southern boundary of the Russian 
possessions, and one which w^ould exclude Great Britain alto- 
gether from the western coast of the continent. It was folly 
to sii|)pose that England would agree to such terms without a 
fight. Polk took a warlike tone in his inaugural, Avhich, prob- 
ably only meant for political effect, stimulated the emigration 
already begun. In 1845 about 7000 American citizens were 
actually living within Oi-egon, while the British occupancy 
was limited to a few forts and stations of the Hudson's Bay 
Company. By the Florida treaty of 1819 the parallel of 42° 
north latitude had been agreed upon as the northern boundary 
of the Spanish possessions, and to this line Mexico extended 
without question; the disputed territory was therefore be- 
tween 42° and 54° 40'. Of this the United States claimed all, 
and Great Britain claimed to a point somewhat south of the 
Columbia River. Neither the United States nor Great Britain 
had an indisputable claim, and so a compromise was the natu- 
ral as well as the fairest settlement ; and this, despite Polk's 
warlike tone, was agreed upon. The line 49° north latitude, 
already the boundary from the Lake of the Woods to the 
Rockies, was settled on as the line to the coast, but England 



244 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

was to retain Vancouver Island. This peaceful settlement 
" was at once just, honorable, and fortunate." ^ 

265. Sub-Treasuries re-established ; Tariff ; Polk's Success. 
(1846-1848.) — The Sub-Treasury system had been abolished 
in 1841, and the government had since availed itself of pri- 
vate banks. At the first session of the new Congress an 
imjDroved system, though essentially similar to the old one, 
was devised, and a bill was promptly passed establishing it. 
This is still in force. 

Polk in his first message advised a revision of the tariff so 
as to reduce duties and make a tariff for revenue only. After 
a considerable struggle Congress passed a bill known as the 
Tariff of 1846 ; this was only a moderately protective measure, 
and until 1861 the country was more nearly upon a free trade 
basis than during any period since 1816. Under this itariff 
all duties were ad valorem. 

It will be seen that in less than three years Polk had accom- 
plished the main objects he had set before himself on entering 
office (sect. 258), and he might well feel satisfied Avith his 
success. The tariff had been reduced, the Sub-Treasury had 
been re-established, the Oregon question had been settled, and 
California had been acquired. 

266. Gold in California. (1848.) — No one suspected how 
valuable California really was. It was known to be excep- 

1 The claims of the United States to Oregon rested (1) on Gray's visit 
to the Columbia River in 1792 (sect. 174) ; (2) on Lewis and Clark's 
explorations (sect. 174) ; (3) on the Louisiana Purchase ; (4) on the Spanish 
treaty of 1819 ; (5) on the retrocession by England of Astoria, an American 
post, after the War of 1812 ; (6) the American settlements south of the 49^ 
parallel. The treaty was proclaimed in force August 5, 1846. From the 
coast the boundary line was to follow "the middle of the channel which 
separates the continent from Vancouver Island. A question having arisen 
as to the true channel, the matter was not settled until 1871 (see sect. 371). 



GOLD m CALIFORNIA. 245 

tionally fertile, and this, together with the splendid harbor 
of San Francisco, was enough to make it highly desirable in 
American eyes. Scarcely, however, had the treaty with 
Mexico for its cession been arranged when news was brought 
of the discovery of gold.^ 

At once (1849) there was a rush to the gold fields. There 
were then two ways to get there, — around Cape Horn, and 
by the route overland. By these two routes men hastened to 
the new El Dorado. Of the two, the overland route was per- 
haps the more dangerous, for the path lay across vast plains, 
unoccupied except by herds of buffalo, and hostile Indians, 
while the Mormons were directly in the track, resenting the 
invasion of their teriitory, and doing all in their power to 
harass the slowly moving trains of emigrants. So great was 
the loss of cattle, and, indeed, of the emigrants themselves, 
that it was said that the trail could be known by the whiten- 
ing bones that lay along it. A third route, by ship or 
steamer to the Isthmus of Panama, thence across it and by 
water again to San Francisco, was soon opened, which became 
the favorite way of reaching California until the Pacific rail- 
road offered a pleasanter and more rapid means of travel. 
But notwithstanding the hardships, in less than two years 
there were fully 100,000 emigrants within the bounds of Cali- 
fornia. Most of the emigrants were from the free states, and 
this fact had an important influence upon the after history, 
not only of California, but of the whole country. 



1 The discovery was made by a man named Marshall, during the con- 
struction of a mill-race in the valley of the American River, for the saw-mill 
of a Swiss immigrant, Captain Sutter. Gold was actually discovered in 
January, 1848, before the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo had been signed, but 
news travelled so slowly in those days that the fact was not fully appreciated 
in the eastern states until December, 1848, when President Polk, in his 
annual message, confirmed the reports and gave them great publicity. 



246 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

267. Wilmot Proviso. (1846.) — While the question of 
obtaining territory from Mexico was being debated in Con- 
gress, David Wilmot, a Democratic member of the House 
from Pennsylvania, proposed an amendment to the bill pro- 
viding that slavery should be forever prohibited in any terri- 
tory that might be purchased from Mexico. This is known 
from him as the "Wilmot Proviso," and though it passed 
the House of Representatives (1846), it failed in the Senate. 
It was, however, a political watchword in the next two or 
three Presidential campaigns. Hannibal Hamlin (afterwards 
Vice-President), in the absence of Wilmot, introduced the 
proviso in the House of Representatives for him. 

The acquisition of so much territory again brought up the 
question of slavery, and in a way that demanded an answer. 
Texas had been admitted as a slave state, but all the other 
territory had been free under Mexico. Should it be free or 
slave under the United States? As a general rule southern 
men would not settle unless they could take their slaves 
with them. The North would resist any proposition to make 
that land slave territory which was already free. If the Mis- 
souri Compromise of 1820 were applied to the new country, 
the line of 36° 30' would divide California nearly in half; 
but this satisfied neither the North, for it violated the prin- 
ciple for which they contended, nor the South, for it would 
shut out a large part of the most desirable lands. 

268. Whigs Successful in electing Taylor. (1848.) — In this 
state of affairs the time for nominating candidates for the 
Presidency came round. Clear-4ieaded men saw there was 
now a distinct issue before the country, but the leaders of 
botli the Democrats and the Whigs dodged the question, for 
each nominating convention refused to commit itself in 
regard to slavery. The Democrats chose Lewis Cass of 



I 



I 



ZACHARY TAYLOR. 247 

Michigan as candidate for President, and William O. Butler 
of Kentucky for Vice-President. The Whigs, following the 
course which had been so successful in 1840, nominated 
Zachary Taylor of Louisiana, with Millard Fillmore of New 
York for Vice-President. Taylor was a slaveholder, but 
was believed to be opposed to the extension of slavery. A 
number of Whigs and northern Democrats supporting the 
Wilmot Proviso, dissatisfied with the action of the conven- 
tions in regard to slavery, resolved to form a new party. A 
convention of these, held at Buffalo, formed the " Free-soil 
Party"; the old Liberty party joined them, and the conven- 
tion nominated Martin Van Buren 
and Charles Francis Adams. In 
the election which followed, though 
this party did not get a single elec- 
toral vote, it succeeded in dividing 
the Democrats in New York, with 
the result of giving that state to 

the Whigs, and thereby electing ^^HBJE^I^Bi' 
Taylor and Fillmore, who received 
a majority of both the free and 
the slave states. ^''"''' "''''°'- 

Zachary Taylor was born in Virginia in 1784, and till the 
age of twenty-four remained on his father's plantation. 
Through the influence of Madison, who was a relative, he 
was commissioned as a lieutenant in the army. By close 
attention to his duties, he rose steadily until he became a 
major-general. His course in the Mexican War has already 
been described. It was be<iause of his military success alone 
that he was chosen as a candidate. He himself acknowl- 
edged that he had never voted in his life, and had no politi- 
cal training whatever ; and many stories were told to show 
his lack of acquaintance with political affairs. He was a 




248 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

man of integrity, and proved to be a far better chief officer 
than many who had had greater opportunities. His death, 
which occurred after he had been sixteen months in office, 
was an undoubted loss to the country. 

269. California sets up a Government. (1849.) — With the 
emigrants to California went a large number of ruffians and 
thieves and villains of all descriptions, and the condition of 
that country was a lawless one. The order-loving men 
among the emigrants, disgusted at the dilatoriness of Con- 
gress, which had provided no government for them, set up in 
1849 a government of their own, and, by the advice of Presi- 
dent Taylor, applied to Congress for admission as a state. 
A clause in the proposed constitution prohibiting slavery 
aroused opposition to the measure among the southern mem- 
bers of Congress. During the discussion of the question the 
President died, and the Vice-President, Millard Fillmore, 
assumed the duties of the Presidential office. 

270. Difficult Questions before Congress. (1849-1850.) — 

Texas claimed that her western boundary was the river Rio 
Grande to its source. This claim took in territory which 
had always been considered a part of Mexico. But the 
Texans persevered in their claim, supported by the South 
as a whole. Should California come in as a free state? 
Should New Mexico and Utah be organized as territories 
with or without slavery? Should the claims of Texas be 
granted? These were the questions before the Congress of 
1849-50. Another matter was also forcing itself into notice. 
The South complained that the old fugitive slave law of 
1793, for the return of runaway slaves to their owners, was 
not enforced, and was also inadequate. The North on its 
side complained of the slave trade in the city of Washington, 




HENRY CLAY. 



COMPROMISE OF 1850; FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW. 249 

declaring it a disgrace to the country. It was now evident 
that the question of slavery had got into politics and would 
stay there until some settlement could be made. 

271. Compromise of 1850. — Extremists on both sides de- 
manded secession as the only remedy, while the moderate 
men of both sides believed that some arrangement like the 
Missouri Compromise could be made. As Henry Clay came 
forward in 1820 as the " Great Pacificator," so now through 
his influence a committee of the Senate prepared Avhat is 
known as the " Omnibus Bill," because it provided for so 
many different things. It was a compromise measure de- 
signed to settle all existing troubles. Its different provisions 
were taken up separately, and finally passed one by one with 
little modification. This arrangement is known as the Com- 
promise of 1850. The chief points were (1) the admission 
of California as a free state ; (2) the organization of New 
Mexico and Utah as territories without reference to slavery -, 

(3) that Texas should give up some of her claims to the 
lands in dispute, but should receive ^110,000,000 for so doing ; 

(4) that the slave trade in the District of Columbia should 
be forbidden, though slavery itself should be allowed (this, 
while yielding something to the antislavery sentiment, 
would allow members of Congress and others to bring their 
slaves to the capital without question) ; (5) that a new and 
more stringent fugitive slave law be enacted. 

272. Webster and the Fugitive Slave Law. (1850.) — The 
debate in Congress over these measures was strong and bitter. 
During it Daniel Webster, in a speech on the 7th of March, 
1850, defended the compromise and attacked the Abolition- 
ists as disturbers of the country, at the same time apologizing 
for slavery. This speech caused a great sensation all over 



250 HISTORY OF THE U^JiTED STATES, 

the country. His motive in making it was probably the fear 
of secession, though it has never been clearly explained, but 
the result was that he lost his position as a leader ; many of 
his old friends looked upon him as a renegade, while southern 
men mistrusted him. Whatever impelled him, his great influ- 
ence was gone. He died in 1852. 

273. California admitted ; the Fugitive Slave Law. (1850.) — 
There seems to be little doubt that the compromise of 1850 
was acceptable to the majority of the people both north and 
south. What they wished for was peace. California was 
admitted as a free state September 9, 1850, and the other 
provisions of the compromise were carried out. The new 
fugitive slave law, however, aroused much feeling Avhen it 
became more fully understood. Its provisions were most rigid. 
The whole matter was put under the charge of the United 
States officials. The fugitive was not permitted to testify ; 
cases were to be decided witliout a jury by a United States 
commissioner or judge, from whose decision there was to be 
no appeal by hahem corpus or otherwise ; the simple affidavit 
of the alleged owner or his agent was sufficient, on proof of 
identity, to send back into slavery ; on slight evidence the 
case could be removed from the state where the alleged fugi- 
tive was captured to the state from which it was claimed lie 
had fled ; all persons were required to aid in the capture of 
the runaways should the marshal call on them for help ; 
obstructing the arrest of fugitives, or concealing them, or in 
any way aiding their escape, was punishable by heavy fine 
and by imprisonment. At once there arose a cry of defiance 
from the North that sucli a law was "unjust, unconstitutional, 
and immoral." As a political measure the law was very 
unwise, for nothing that had been done heretofore tended so 
to force the subject of slavery on the attention of the people 



CENSUS; IMMIGRATION; INVENTORS. 251 

of the North. It was not long before many of the northern 
states passed " Personal Liberty Laws," designed to obstruct 
as much as possible the execution of the obnoxious law. 
Meanwhile the ranks of the antislavery party were being 
rapidly recruited. 

274. Census; Great Increase of Immigration. (1850.) — The 
census of 1850 showed that the population had increased 
more than one-third over that of 1840. In every way the 
country was growing; manufactories were rapidly increasing 
in the eastern and middle states, railroads were stretching 
out farther and farther west, commerce, ocean and coastwise, 
was rapidly extending, the United States being surpassed in 
tonnage only by Great Britain. In short, the outlook for the 
country from a material point of view was most flattering. 
Immigration had increased amazingly.- Partly the result of 
the great famine in Ireland in 1847, partly from the number 
of political revolutions in Europe caused by the desire for 
greater liberty, many of which had been put down, and whose 
supporters had been forced to leave the country, largely 
through the news of the discovery of gold in California, and 
the stories of the freedom of America, the number of immi- 
grants increased from a yearly average for the preceding 
twenty-five years of less than 100,000 to more than 400,000 
in 1850. It was a significant fact that, with the most trifling 
exceptions, all these immigrants settled in the free states 
and territories. 

275. Inventors. (1839-1846.) — Political quarrels and 
struggles did not choke the spirit of invention and enter- 
prise which is now recognized as an American characteristic. 
It was, however, only after years of discouragement and toil 
that Elias Howe, Jr., of Massachusetts, patented his sewing- 



252 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

machine in 1846. The great feature of his invention was 
the position of the eye in the point of the needle ; it was this 
that made his machine successful, and all subsequent improve- 
ments have retained this feature. It was not until 1854 that 
Howe fully established his claim and that he reaped the re- 
ward of his ingenuity. Several years earlier (1839), Charles 
Goodyear and Nathaniel Haywood of Connecticut discovered 
that sulphur mixed with india-rubber at a high temperature 
would enable the latter article to be worked into almost 
any shape. This process of treating rubber with sulphur is 
known as vulcanizing, and was patented in 1844. Many 
great improvements have since been made, and rubber is 
now extensively used in the manufacture of a great variety 
of articles. 

276. Postage. (1845.) — Department of the Interior. (1849.) 

— Previous to 1845 the postage on letters was charged ac- 
cording to the number of sheets and the distance the letter 
was carried, the amount due being collected on delivery.^ 

In 1845 a new law was passed, reducing the postage to 
five cents for all distances under three hundred miles and 
ten cents for greater distances, the charge to be according 
to weight, a half-ounce being taken as the unit. In 1847 
postage stamps of these denominations were issued and the 
modern system of postal administration fairly begun. In 
1851 the postage on letters was again reduced, a uniform 

1 Postage rates were fixed by act of Congress, 1792, and afterwards modi- 
fied in 1816 and at other times. In 18-43, for a distance not over thirty 
miles, the rate for a single sheet was six cents ; from thirty to eighty miles, 
ten cents ; eighty to one hundred and fifty miles, twelve and one-half cents, 
and so on, according to distance, the highest rate being twenty-five cents for 
over four hundred miles. Two pieces of paper were charged double these 
rates. These were the inland charges ; ocean postage was proportionally 
higher. 



NEW PARTY LEADERS. 253 

charge of three cents per half-ounce or fraction thereof being 
established, regardless of distance, except in the cases of the 
extreme West and the Pacific coast. ^ In 1875 the Inter- 
national Universal Postal Union, with headquarters at Berne, 
began operations, and now almost all nations have joined 
it, making uniform international postal rates for nearly the 
whole world. This is one of the greatest triumphs of modern 
civilization. 

In 1849 a new department was added to the executive 
branch of the government, called the Department of the 
Interior, because everything under its charge is connected 
with internal affairs. It has under its direction a greater 
variety of interests than any of the other branches of the 
government ; among them are the Public Lands, the Patent 
Office, Pensions, the Indians, the Census, and Education. 
The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet. 
Most of the duties had previously been performed by the 
Department of State. 

277. New Party Leaders; Presidential Nominations. (1852.) 
— In 1850 John C. Calhoun died, in 1852 Henry Clay and 
Daniel Webster. New party leaders came upon the arena 
both from the South and North. Among the Democrats 
were Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois and Jefferson Davis 
of Mississippi ; among the southern Whigs, Alexander H. 
Stephens of Georgia; while the new Antislavery part}' 
gained a tower of strength in Congress by the election to 
seats in the House or Senate of Charles Sumner of Massa- 

1 The postage on papers, books, and printed matter was also (1851) greatly 
lessened. In 1883 the letter rate was reduced to two cents, and m 1885 the 
unit was made one ounce. Postal cards, introduced by Austria, were first 
issued by the United States in May, 1873. Ocean postage was also, largely 
through the efforts of the United States, reduced to five cents per half-ounce 
(or to speak accurately, per fifteen grammes), printed matter in proportion. 



254 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

chusetts, Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, and William II. Seward 
of New York. 

It was now inevitable that a change would take place in 
tlie great political parties of the country. Slavery must 
divide the nortliern and southern wings of both Democrats 
and Whigs. The antislavery Whigs began to go to the 
Free-soil party, as did also the antislavery Democrats of the 
North. In the South the pro-slavery Wliigs tended to unite 
with the Democrats ; thus both North and South the Whigs 
were losing numbers, while the Democratic losses in the 
North were more than offset by the gains in the South. 
When the time came round to choose a President, the Whigs, 
hoping to win again through military glory, nominated Gen- 
eral Winfield Scott, with William A. Graham of North Caro- 
lina for Vice-President. The Democrats nominated Franklin 
Pierce of New Hampshire for President, and William R. 
King of Alabama for Vice-President. Botli the Whigs and 
the Democrats upheld in their platforms the Compromise of 
1850, including the fugitive slave law. The Free-soil con- 
vention nominated John P. Hale of New Hampshire and 
George W. Julian of Indiana. In the election the Demo- 
crats carried all the states except four, though in some the 
majority was small.^ 

278. Franklin Pierce ; World's Fairs ; Japan. (1853.) — The 

Free-soil party actually polled a smaller vote than four years 
before. It seemed as if the Compromise of 1850 was about 
to be fairly tested. Thougli Pierce had been in political life 
for a number of years, and had been a brigadier-general in 
the Mexican War, he had done nothing to bring himself 
before the notice of the country at large ; he was nominated 

1 The four states were Massachusetts, Vermont, Teuuessee, and Ken- 
tucky. 



PACIFIC RAILROADS; "UNCLE TOM'S CABIN." 255 

simply because the convention was afraid to nominate one of 
the party leaders. 

Among the peaceful occurrences of this troubled adminis- 
tration may be mentioned the American World's Fair, which 
was held at New York in 1853. England had held in 1851, at 
London, a grand exhibition to illustrate the world's progress 
in arts and sciences, to which she had invited the world to 
contribute. This had been a great success, and the United 
States wished to follow her example. The New York Fair, 
while it did not pay expenses, was of great use in giving a 
knowledge of the products and manufactures of other coun- 
tries. These two fairs were the pioneers of the numerous 
ones which have followed in various lands. 

Japan, like China, had closed her ports to foreign countries 
for centuries, but Commodore Matthew C. Perry, who had been 
sent in 1853 to try to open negotiations, succeeded in 1854 in 
making a treaty with the military ruler of the country, by 
which certain ports were opened, thus accomplishing by skil- 
ful diplomacy that which other nations had attempted in vain. 

279. Pacific Railroads ; " Uncle Tom's Cabin." (1853.) — The 
acquisition of California, the discovery of gold there, and the 
prospect of intercourse with Japan, heightened the desire for 
communication between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by 
some route shorter than around Cape Horn or by the- way of 
the Isthmus. With this end in view the government sent 
out, in 1853, an expedition to explore the different routes that 
might seem suitable for a railroad to the Pacific. A full 
report of these various surveys was published by Congress, 
and forms a valuable account of that part of the country at 
that time. It was not until 1862 that a Pacific railroad was 
begun, and it was not until seven years later that the East 
and West were joined by rails. (Sect. 366.) 



256 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

In 1853 Harriet Beecher Stowe published " Uncle Tom's 
Cabin," a story of slave life in the South. This book made 
an immense sensation, and within a year of its publication 
over 200,000 copies had been sold. It presented the sub- 
ject of slavery in a way that took hold of the public, and it 
was largely instrumental in changing the question from a 
political to a moral one. Few books have had so rapid and so 
wide a circulation. It was read all over Europe, and has been 
translated into twenty different languages. ^ 

280. Kansas-Nebraska Bill. (1854.) — By the Missouri Com- 
promise (sect. 205) slaver}^ was not to be allowed outside of 
the state of Missouri, north of the line of 36° 30'. The Com- 
promise of 1850 (sect. 271) had done nothing to interfere 
with this arrangement, for it related only to land acquired 
from Mexico, while the Missouri Compromise related to the 
Louisiana Purchase. It would seem that slavery as a national 
question was settled, at least for a time, by the compromises 
of 1820 and of 1850. To bring up the question again Avas 
certainly a political blunder. But in 1854 Stephen A. Doug- 
las, a Democratic senator from Illinois, introduced into Con- 
gress what is known as the " Kansas-Nebraska Bill," which 
provided for the organization of two new territories west of 
Missouri and Iowa, both within the Louisiana Purchase and 
north of the line of 36° 30'. In this bill it was declared that 
the question of the allowance of slavery in the territories was 
one to be decided by the inhabitants of the territories, and 
not by Congress ; that Congress, in 1820, had no right to 
legislate concerning slavery, and that therefore it was still 
an open question. This doctrine was called at the time 
"Squatter Sovereignty," tlie early settlers being often called 

1 Its popularity is still very great. It was first issued as a serial story in 
the National Era, an Anti-Slavery newspaper published at Washington, D.C. 



I 



AMERICAN PARTY; CONDITION OF THE SOUTH. 257 

squatters. Though the northern members of Congress insisted 
that this was a breach of faith, and that such a result was not 
thought of in the Compromise of 1850, the bill was passed 
and signed by the President. Probably neither side had any 
idea of the result which was to follow such action. 

281. American Party. (1852-1856.) —About this time a 
new party was organized, called by its members the " Ameri- 
can Party," but which was generally known as the '' Know- 
Nothing " party. This name arose from the fact that in the 
earlier days of the organization it was a secret order, whose 
members, when asked any questions about it, always answered, 
" I don't know." As the name American indicated, it was 
opposed to everything foreign, its watchword being "America 
for Americans." The large increase in the number of immi- 
grants and the looseness with which the naturalization laws 
were carried out, made the restriction of the suffrage to 
native Americans, except after long residence, a cardinal 
doctrine of the " Americans." To this was added, at first, 
opposition to the alleged political influence of the Catholic 
Church. This party grew rapidly, and at one time it seemed 
likely to become a rival to the Democrats ; but, dodging the 
question of slavery, it tried to make " nativism " a national 
issue. Where so many voters were immigrants themselves, 
it was natural that the attempt failed, and, enjoying but a 
brief existence, the party disappeared after the Presidential 
election of 1856. 

282. Condition of the South. (1852.) — The southern people 
did not encourage free immigrants, for they were afraid that 
free labor would make the slaves discontented, and in the 
end lead to insurrections. In fact, the slaveholder was afraid 
of anything that might increase the intelligence of his slaves, 



258 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

and this was very natural ; for he had found from experience 
that as a negro gained knowledge he became more and more 
dissatisfied with his condition. The result of this policy was 
that even agriculture became less and less profitable ; the 
cultivation of cotton and tobacco claiming in a large part of 
the South almost the whole attention of the planters, while 
wheat and corn, both of which were adapted to the climate, 
were too often neglected. Rotation of crops was not observed, 
nor was the land properly enriched. Though the aggregate 
of the cotton and tobacco crops increased, the profits became 
less, on account of the wasteful and unscientific methods of 
cultivation employed. The plantations were often managed 
by overseers who had little or no interest in anything except 
how to get the largest returns year by year, regardless of the 
effect on the land; the slaves, on their part, wished to do as 
little work as possible, and were apt to distrust improved 
methods and implements ; and some of the planters paid little 
attention to their estates, often spending a large part of their 
time away from home. So, though it was not recognized at 
the time, the South was pursuing a suicidal policy if she 
wished to keep abreast of the Nortli. A very few, in both 
North and South, saw the real tendency of affairs and spoke 
out, but they were not believed. One thing, however, the 
soutliern leaders did see clearly, Avhicli was that their politi- 
cal poAver, before long, would l)e greatly lessened unless 
somethincr could be done to chan^fe the course of events. 

283. Representation in Congress ; Cuba. (1850-1852.) — The 
membersliip of the House of Representatives is based upon 
population ; and as the free states Avere increasing faster than 
the slave states (Appendix, vi.), it was simply a question of 
time when the former would have control of both branches 
of Congress. The South had long seen this. A glance at 



OSTEND MANIFESTOo 259 

the tables of representation in Congress (Appendix, viii.) 
will show that from 1820 to 1848 the representation of the 
sections of the country in the Senate were equal. That this 
was so was due to the fact that a slave state was admitted to 
balance every free state, but in 1850 this arrangement came 
to an end by the admission of California as a free state. So 
it Avas clear that in the Senate also the South would lose 
control if anything should divide the Democratic party. For 
this reason, it was a mistake for the Democrats to support 
the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, as it could hardly fail to divide 
the northern Democrats. 

One way to retain power was to acquire more territory 
which would be open to slavery. For this purpose the island 
of Cuba offered most attractions : in it slavery already ex- 
isted ; it was fertile and w^ell adapted to the cultivation of 
crops usually raised by slave labor, and was owned by Spain, 
a weak and needy power, who might be forced, if not cajoled, 
into disposing of it to a powerful neighbor. At first, adven- 
turers tried to seize Cuba, with the idea of subsequent admis- 
sion to the Union. These Filibusters, as they were called, 
were unsuccessful in their attempt to seize the island, and a 
number of them having been captured, were promptly exe- 
cuted by the Spanish government.^ 

284. Ostend Manifesto. (1854.) —In 1854 the United States 
ministers to Great Britain, to France, and to Spain, who were 
respectively James Buchanan, John Y. Mason, an*d Pierre 
Soulc, were instructed by President Pierce to meet and 
confer as to the best means of acquiring Cuba. They met 

^ The most notorious of the Eilibusters was "General" William Walker, 
who organized several expeditions against the Central American States 
between 1855 and 1860. After actually succeeding in making himself at one 
time President of Nicaragua, he was at last captured and shot in Honduras, 
in 1860. The Civil War put an end to filibustering. 



260 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

at Ostend, Belgium, and after some discussion issued what is 
known as the " Ostend Manifesto," a document in which 
they said that the possession of Cuba was a necessity for the 
United States ; that if Spain persisted in refusing to sell the 
island, the United States would be justified in seizing it. 
This paper occasioned considerable comment abroad, but the 
passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill and the threatening 
aspect of home affairs, prevented any further agitation of 
the subject. 

285. Troubles in Kansas. (1854-1858.) — The principle of 
" squatter sovereignty " having been made the rule for the 
new territories, it was evident that to Avhichever party the 
greatest number of settlers belonged, that party would be 
able to make the territory, and the subsequent state, free or 
slave, as the case might be. Accordingly, as soon as the 
bill was signed, both North and South began to pour settlers 
into the new territories, but especially into Kansas. In this 
struggle the North had the decided advantage, for the slave- 
holders hesitated about taking their slaves where there was a 
risk of losing them. In the eastern states great interest was 
taken in western emigration, and societies were organized 
for encouraging and aiding it. In order to escape passing 
through Missouri, the emigrants from the free states took the 
roundabout way through Iowa. The settlers who opposed 
slavery were soon in the majority; but as all the settlers 
were near the Missouri boundary, the pro-slavery party was 
reinforced by men from the latter state, who crossed the line 
and voted more than enough ballots at every election to 
counterbalance the free vote ; sometimes, indeed, the number 
of ballots counted was more than the whole number of 
voters in the territory. The free settlers declined to recog- 
nize legislatures so chosen or laws made by them, but, hold- 



TROUBLES IN KANSAS. 



261 



ing elections of their own, chose legislatures and framed con- 
stitutions in accord with their own views. Of course, the 
pro-slavery element refused to acknowledge these actions, 
and unfortunately the trouble did not stop with words and 
elections. Men were attacked and shot, and houses and 
whole villages were destroyed by the " Border Ruffians," as 
they were called. The settlers from the East and North, 
feeling that their just rights were invaded, met force with 




VOTING-PLACE IN KANSAS, 1855. 



force, and retaliated with a severity perhaps quite equal to 
that which they themselves experienced. The whole terri- 
tory was in a state of actual war. The administration at 
Washington generally sided with the pro-slavery party ; but 
though governor after governor was sent out, it seemed 
impossible to preserve peace. It was not long before the 
free settlers had so increased in numbers as to be warranted 
in asking that the territory should be admitted to the Union 
as a state, but though petitioning Congress more than once, 
their request was not granted until 1861. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

INCREASE OF SECTIONAL FEELING. 
REFERENCES. 

General. — James Schouler, History of the United States, v. 335-512; 
James F. Rhodes, History of the United States, ii. 131-502 ; Bryant and 
Gay, Popular History of the United States, iv. 418-447 ; W. Wilson, Division 
and Reunion (Epochs of American History), pp. 194-218; James G. Blaine, 
Twenty Years of Congress, i. 138-312 ; E. Channing, The United States, 
pp. 247-257 ; Horace Greeley, The American Conflict, i, 251-449 ; Jolm 
G. Nicolay and John Hay, Abraham Lincoln, vols, ii.-vi. ; Jefferson Davis, 
The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, 1. 1-85, 199-318 ; Alex- 
ander H. Stephens, The War between the States, ii. 263-370 ; Henry A. 
Wise, Seven Decades of the Union, Chaps, xiii.-xv. ; Goldwin Smith, The 
United States, pp. 215-253 ; Edward Ingle, Southern Side Lights. 

Biographies. — See references for Chaps. ±n. and xiii. H. von Hoist, 
John Brown ; F. B. Sanborn, Life of John Brown ; J. T. Morse, Jr., Abra- 
ham Lincoln. 

Special. — Alex. Johnston, American Politics, Chajos. xviii., xix. ; E. Stan- 
wood, History of Presidential Elections, Chaps, xix. , xx. ; Edward McPher- 
son, Political Text-book for 1860, Political History of the Rebellion (these 
contain the most important documents); James S. Pike, First Blows of the 
Civil War, pp. 301-520. For Sumner and Brooks : Alex. Johnston, Amer- 
ican Orations, ii. 256-314. Dred Scott Decision : G. T. Curtis, Memoir of 
Benjamin R. Curtis; The Nation (New York), April 7, 21, 1892; Alex. 
Johnston, American Orations, iii. 3-33 ; M. W. Cluskey, Political Text-book 
(decision given in full) ; J. J. Lalor, Cyclopsedia, i. 838-841. James 
Buchanan : Buchanan's Administration ; James Russell Lowell, Political 
Essays, and articles in Atlantic Monthly and North American Review, 1860- 
1866. Secession : Jefferson Davis, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate 
Government, i. 86-198 ; Alex. Johnston, American Orations, iii. 49-124 ; 
Ordinances, etc., relating to Secession, American History Leaflets, No. 12 ; 
Washington in the Winter of 1860-61, Atlantic Monthly, August, 1893. 
Lincoln's Inaugural, Old South Leaflets, No. 11.; Alex. Johnston, American 

262 



REPUBLICANS; CHARLES SUIVINER. 263 

Orations, iii. 141-156. Jefferson Davis's Inaugural, etc. : Alex. Johnston, 
American Orations, iii. 157-175. Atlantic Cable : H. M. Field, Story of 
the Atlantic Telegraph (Revised edition). 

286. "Anti-Nebraska Men"; Republicans; Charles Sumner. 
(1854-1856.) — The Kansas trouble caused intense excite- 
ment in the country and on the floors of Congress, and 
" bleeding Kansas " was a phrase often used in the North. 
In the election following the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska 
bill the opponents of the measure united and elected enough 
members to control the House of Representatives. These at 
first were called Anti-Nebraska men ; but it was not long 
before they took the name of Republicans, and formed the 
Republican party. Tliis party, since so well known, was 
composed chiefly of the old northern antislavery Whigs, 
with whom were joined many of those who held antislavery 
views in the Free-soil, the American, and the Democratic 
parties. The new party had few sympathizers in the South, 
except among the Germans of Missouri and among the inhab- 
itants of western Virginia. 

During the debate in Congress Charles Sumner, a senator 
from Massachusetts, spoke very severely of one of the South 
Carolina senators. Preston S. Brooks, a member of the 
House of Representatives from South Carolina, and a 
nephew of the aggrieved senator, came into the Senate 
chamber after the adjournment of that body, and, attacking 
Sumner while seated at his desk, beat him about the head 
with a heavy cane, injuring him so severely that for nearly 
four years he was unable to resume his place. For this 
assault Brooks was censured by the House of Representa- 
tives, of which he was a member, and fined by a Washington 
court of justice. He at once resigned his place, but was 
almost unanimously re-elected, only six votes being cast 
against him. This incident contributed greatly to the bitter 



264 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

feeling already existing between the great sections of the 
country. 

287. Presidential Nominations and Election of 1856. — The 

Presidential election of 1856 was one of the most important 
that had yet been held. The Democrats nominated James 
Buchanan of Pennsylvania, and John C. Breckenridge of 
Kentucky, both supporters of the Kansas-Nebraska bill ; the 
American party ignored the slavery question, and nominated 
Millard Fillmore of New York, and Andrew J. Donelson of 
Tennessee. The new Republican party met for the first time 
in a convention, and nominated John C. Fremont of Califor- 
nia, and William L. Dayton of New Jersey. The cry of the 
new party was, "Free soil, free speech, free men, and Fre- 
mont." In the election which followed, Buchanan and 
Breckenridge were chosen ; but the new party, hardly two 
years old, had carried eleven out of the fifteen free states, 
and polled a popular vote of nearly a million and a half. 
The Americans only carried the state of Maryland, and from 
this time ceased to exist as a party. The signs of the times 
clearly indicated that, in another four years, an antislavery 
President might be chosen. 

288. ** Dred Scott Case " ; Fugitive Slaves. (1856-1857.) — 

Curiously enough, the constitutionality of the Missouri Com- 
promise (sect. 205) had never been brought up before the 
United States Supreme Court until 1856. Though the case 
liad been argued, the decision of the court was not made 
public till after the inauguration of Buchanan. When pub- 
lished, the " Dred Scott decision " created great indignation 
in the North, for it upheld the extreme southern view of 
slavery in almost all respects. It said, in short, that negroes 
could not be citizens ; that they were property, and therefore 
slaves could be taken anywhere in the United States in the 



JAMES BUCHANAN; THE MORMONS. 265 

same way as other property ; that the Missouri Compromise 
was unconstitutional ; and that Congress had no right to for- 
bid slavery in the territories. If the Kansas-Nebraska bill had 
been obnoxious to the North, this decision was far more so, 
and many determined to ignore it, and, if needful, resist the 
execution of decrees in accordance with it. That Chief Jus- 
tice Taney was sincere in his opinion, no one can doubt, but 
he allowed himself to go be3^ond the legal questions at issue, 
and to make a political and historical argument which was, 
to say the least, inappropriate and unbecoming. 

Soon after the rise of the antislavery movement there 
came into existence what was known as " The Underground 
Railroad." This was simply a number of Abolitionists who 
sympathized with the fugitive slaves, secreted them, and 
helped them on from point to point on their way to Canada 
or some other place of safety. Several instances of fugitive 
slaves reclaimed under the law of 1850 excited the anger 
of many in the North, and made the execution of the law 
more and more difficult. When the decision of the Supreme 
Court was added to what had been done before, the patience 
of many was exhausted, and they made no secret of their 
views ; thus the feeling between the sections became more 
embittered than ever. Still the majority of the people of 
the free states were so much occupied with their own per- 
sonal concerns that they looked upon slavery as a necessary 
evil in the states Avhere it existed, and, believing that it was 
in such cases a state matter, would have gladly welcomed a 
way to take it out of national politics. The Abolitionists 
were in 1857 a small body. 

289. James Buchanan ; the Mormons. (1857.) — James 
Buchanan was sixty-six years old. He was a man of good 
character, a trusted politician in his party, which had 



266 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

bestowed upon him many political offices, and he was 
favorable to the pro-slavery element. He declared it to be 
his purpose to execute the ''high and responsible duties" 
of his office "in such a manner as to restore harmony and 
ancient friendship among the people of the several states." 

The Mormons (sect. 254) had prospered in their new 
western home, but they had declined to be bound by the 
United States laws. They had also tried to prevent the 
,„j„. immigration of Non-Mormons, and 

were believed to have murdered 
many immigrants wlio came near 
their territory. In 1857 the Presi- 
dent sent a detachment of troops 
to bring them into obedience. 
After some delay and difficulty 
this was nominally done, but the 
Mormons continued to ignore the 
laAvs relating to polygamy for 
JAMES BUCHANAN. mauy ycars longer. 

290. Panic; Ocean Telegraph Cable. (1857.) —Everything 
had seemed so prosperous in tlie country that, as in 1837, many 
new enterprises had been started, especially in the building of 
railroads. These were built faster than the demand called 
for, and the earnings in many cases were not enough to pay 
expenses, much less dividends. Soon a verj^ large number of 
railroad shares were tlu'own upon the market for sale, result- 
ing in a panic, which affected business generally, and the 
number of mercantile failures in the country was very great. 

As early as 1846 a telegraphic message had been sent 
under the Hudson River, by means of a wire covered with 
gutta-percha. This had proved that it was practicable to 
send messages under water, and soon cables of moderate length 




GOLD; SILVER; OIL FIELDS. 267 

were laid on the beds of rivers and narrow bodies of water. 
Cyrus W. Field, a wealthy merchant of New York, became 
interested in a project to lay a telegraphic line across the 
Atlantic Ocean. A company of English and Americans 
was formed, and soundings were made in the ocean to dis- 
cover the nature of the bottom. It was found that between 
Newfoundland and Ireland the depth did not exceed two and 
one-half miles, while the bottom was nearly level. This has 
since been called the Telegraphic Plateau. After many 
experiments and efforts a line was successfully laid in 1858, 
but, after a few messages had been sent back and forth, the 
line refused to work ; but the practicability of an ocean 
telegraph liad been demonstrated, though it was not until 
1866 that a thoroughly successful cable was laid (sect. 364). 

291. Gold; Silver; Oil Fields. (1858-1859.) — Little had 

been known of the mineral resources of the country between 
Kansas and the Rocky Mountains, but in 1858 gold was dis- 
covered in Colorado ; and in the same year the famous 
Comstock lode at Virginia City, Nevada, was found, one of 
the richest silver deposits in the world. Other mines of gold 
and silver, and of other valuable minerals, including coal, 
were discovered in the West, shoAving it to be a region rich 
in mineral wealth. In 1859, near Titusville, in western 
Pennsylvania, while digging a well, a deposit of coal-oil or 
petroleum was struck, and the " oil fields " of Pennsylvania 
and of other states soon brought vast wealth to their owners, 
while the oil itself nearl}^ displaced altogether the animal 
oils hitherto used for illumination, and became an article of 
great commercial importance. The products manufactured 
out of the crude oil are almost innumerable, — dyes, medi- 
cines, and articles used in almost all the arts, — and the list 
is continually increasing. 



268 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

292. John Brown. (1859.) — In the autumn of 1859 the 
whole country, but especially the South, was startled by an 
attempt to incite the slaves to an insurrection. John Brown, 
of Ossawatomie, Kansas, had been prominent in the Kansas 
war, and was filled with a desire to liberate the slaves of the 
South. Supposing that an opportunity and a leader was all 
that was needed to arouse them, he, with a force of less than 
twenty-five men, seized the United States arsenal at Harper's 
Ferry, on the Potomac, in Virginia. Of course he was soon 
overpowered, and in accomplishing this several of his men, 
including two of his sons, Avere killed. He himself, badly 
wounded, was taken prisoner with most of his little band. 
He was tried by the Virginia courts, condemned, and exe- 
cuted. In the South this attempt Avas regarded as a proof 
that many in the free states wished to incite insurrections 
among the slaves ; while, in the North, surprise was mingled 
with pity and admiration for the self-sacrificing courage of 
the man, though the vast majority wholly disapproved of his 
action, and looked upon him as a fanatic. 

293. Nominations. (1860.) — The great Democratic party 
was now confronted with the question of slavery in a way 
that could not be ignored ; and, in 1860, at the convention 
for nominating a candidate for President, after a discussion 
that showed irreconcilable differences, the delegates sepa- 
rated ; and the two portions, each holding a new convention, 
nominated each its own candidates. One division supported 
Stephen A. Douglas and Ilerschel V. Johnson of Georgia, 
and popular sovereignty; while the other division, holding 
pro-slavery views, nominated John C. Breckinridge of Ken- 
tucky and Joseph Lane of Oregon. The American party, 
the remnants of the old Whigs, and some Democrats, calling 
themselves the Constitutional Union party, nominated John 



SECESSION. 269 

Bell of Tennessee and Edward Everett of Massachusetts, 
adopting as their platform the indefinite declaration, " The 
Constitution of the country, the union of the states, and 
the enforcement of the laws." The Republicans nomi- 
nated Abraham Lincoln of Illinois and Hannibal Hamlin of 
Maine (Sect. 299). 

Thus there were four tickets in the field, and probably 
there never was a time when the actual political feelings of 
the country were better represented by party candidates. 
The Douglas platform said "squatter sovereignty" and the 
Su^Dreme Court must settle the slavery 
question. The Breckinridge platform said 
" Slavery must be taken into the terri- 
tories and protected there." The Union 
party dodged the question of slavery alto- 
gether. The Republican platform said 
slavery must be kept out of the territories 
whatever else might happen. The division 
of their 02:)ponents gave a good majority of 

,1 1, 1 , i_Jl-r» IT ABRAHAM LINCOLN, I860. 

the electoral votes to the Republican can- 
didates, who received also the largest popular vote, and 
carried every free state except New Jersey, where three elec- 
toral votes were cast for Douglas. 

294. Secession. (1860-1861.) — For the first time a dis- 
tinctly antislavery party had elected a President, and though 
the new Congress had not a Republican majority in either 
house, the southern leaders thought the time had come to 
resort to sejDaration. Had the question of secession been 
submitted to a popular vote, in 1860, in all the southern 
states, except South Carolina, it would probably have 
received a negative answer. The legislature of South Caro- 
lina, which still cast the electoral vote of the state, remained 




270 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

in session until Lincoln's election was assured, and then, 
calling a convention, it adjourned. The convention soon 
met, and on December 20, 1860, passed an ordinance of seces- 
sion. This document declared " that the union now exist- 
ing between South Carolina and the other states, under the 
name of the United States of America, is hereby dissolved." 
The governor of the state issued a proclamation announcing 
the fact ; preparations Avere at once made to provide for an 
independent government, and messengers were sent to the 
other slave states to persuade them to follow the example of 
South Carolina. Within about six weeks Mississippi, Florida, 
Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and somewhat later (February 
23, 1861) Texas, had held conventions and passed secession 
ordinances. The remaining slave states declined to follow 
at once, desiring to wait further developments. 

295. Confederate States of America. (1861.) — Delegates 
from the states named, except Texas, appointed by the con- 
ventions, met February 4, 1861, at Montgomery, Alabama, 
and organized a government under the name of " The Con- 
federate States of America." A provisional constitution, 
modelled very closely upon that of the United States, was 
adopted February 8, 1861, and the next day the Congress 
elected Jefferson Davis of Mississippi provisional president, 
and Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia vice-president, each 
state having one vote. A permanent constitution was adopted 
by the Congress March 11, and was ratified by the conven- 
tions of the states to which it was referred. 

This constitution was that of the United States, modified 
or changed where it seemed necessary. The words " Con- 
federate States " and " Confederacy " were substituted for 
"United States" and " Union" wherever the latter phrases 
pccurred. Among the changes were the distinct assertion of 



ELECTION OF DAVIS AND STEPHENS. 



271 



" the sovereign and independent character " of each state ; ^ 
the introduction of the word " slave " ; the prohibition of pro- 
tective tariffs, and of appropriations of public money for in- 
ternal improvements ; the permission granted to the President 
to veto items in appropriation bills, and to the Congress to 
allow each member of the Cabinet a seat upon the floor of 
either house " with the privilege" of discussing any measure 
appertaining to his department." The term of the Presi- 
dent was made six years, and 
he was restricted to one term. 

296. Election of Davis and Ste- 
phens. — (1861.) New Govern- 
ment. (1862.) — At an election 
held November 6, 1861, Davis 
and Stephens were re-elected by 
a unanimous electoral vote. 
The new permanent government 
went into operation February 
22, 1862, at Richmond, Virginia, 
whicli had been chosen as the 
capital of the new Confederacy. 

The government never was 
completely established, as no 
Supreme Court was organized. The sessions of the Congress 
were generally held in secret, and it did little but register 
the will of the executive branch of the government; the war 
powers granted to the executive, or exercised by it, over- 
riding everything else. 

In the conduct of the early secession movement there seems 
to have been an endeavor to copy the action of the colonies 

1 Notwithstanding this, the constitution provided for " a permanent federal 
government.'^ 




JEFFERSON DAVIS. 



272 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

at the time of the Declaration of Independence. Everything 
was referred to conventions, and it was only after the war 
had begun that measures were referred to a popular vote. 
So fully, however, was the doctrine of state sovereignty held 
in the South that as soon as a state had seceded, even though 
the method may not have been approved, the citizens as a 
whole went with the state. In this way many who had 
spoken strongly against secession, chiefly on the ground of 
its being inexpedient, afterwards supported the act in legis- 
lative assemblies and on the battle-field. 

297. Buchanan; Peace Conference. (1861.) — Meanwhile 
the United States Congress had met ; President Buchanan 
sent in his message, taking somewhat similar ground to that 
which Andrew Jackson had taken thirty years before. 

But, while denying the right of secession, Buchanan seems 
to have doubted whether the United States had the legal 
power to coerce a state, and he refused to assume the re- 
sponsibility of even attempting to take any such measure 
while Congress was in session. 

It was natural that men's thoughts should be turned back 
to other crises in the history of tlie country, and that an 
effort to compromise should be tried. A peace conference 
was called by Virginia to meet at Washington, and was 
attended by delegates from twenty-one states; but the amend- 
ments proposed to be made to the Constitution were unsatis- 
factory, and the conference did little more than show that 
even the moderate men of the country could not agree on a 
compromise. 

298. Inaction at the North ; Fort Sumter. (1861.) — Buchan- 
an's cabinet was composed in part of southern men, and was 
divided in sentiment ; some members sympathized with the 



INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN. 273 

South, and some did not believe in coercion. The result was 
inaction when the times called loudly for prompt and vigor- 
ous measures. This halting and vacillating conduct of the 
government was of great advantage to the southern leaders. 

As soon as each state had passed an ordinance of secession 
the senators and representatives in the United States Con- 
gress withdrew, generally taking leave of Congress in a 
speech. All this time the government was doing little or 
nothing to prepare for a conflict, while the southern states 
were seizing the United States stores of military supplies, 
drilling militia, and making every other preparation for 
armed resistance. 

Fort Moultrie, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, 
was garrisoned by a small body of troops under the command 
of Major Robert Anderson. Anticipating an attack by the 
state troops, he determined to remove his little force to an- 
other fort, which, though unfinished, seemed to offer a better 
chance of defence. This was Fort Sumter, to which, on the 
evening of December 26, 1860, he transferred his troops and 
supplies. These latter were inadequate even for the few men 
whom he had. At length the President, Buchanan, sent a 
merchant steamer, the Star of the West^ to Charleston with 
supplies for the garrison, but the battery which the state 
authorities had thrown up on Morris Island fired on her, and 
she returned without accomplishing her purpose. 

299. Inauguration of Lincoln. (1861.) — Before March, 1861, 
all the forts belonging to the United States in the seceded 
states, except Sumter in South Carolina, Pickens at Pensa- 
cola, Florida, and Key West, had been surrendered to the 
state authorities. Seven states had declared themselves out 
of the Union, and it was believed that the remaining slave 
states would secede if any force were used to compel the 



274 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



return to the Union of those already claiming to be out ; the 
views of the people of the free states were unknown, though 
it was believed that many would deprecate any appeal to 
force. Such was the condition of the country when the time 
for the inauguration of Lincoln drew near. It was truly a 
discouraging prospect. Some of Lincoln's friends, who feared 
the risk of a public journey, persuaded him to travel secretly 

the last part of the way to 
Washington. He was inaugu- 
rated on the 4th of March, a 
large body of troops being pres- 
ent by arrangement of General 
Scott. 

Lincoln's inaugural address 
was conciliatory and very far re- 
moved from anything like aboli- 
tionism. The situation of the 
new administration was difficult 
in the extreme ; many of the 
office-liolders were in sympathy 
with the secessionists, and it 
was almost impossible to know 
in whom to trust. The Presi- 
dent, while conciliatory, soon made it clear that his admin- 
istration would not be lacking in firmness. 

Abraham Lincoln was born in Hardin County, Kentucky, 
February 12, 1809, and died April 15, 1865. Recent in- 
vestigations show that his family was of New England stock, 
and that his antecedents were by no means so ignoble as some 
biographers have represented. His father moved to Indiana 
in 1816, and in 1830 to Illinois. Abraham Lincoln's early 
life was the hard, rough-and-tumble life of a frontier settler. 
He learned to chop wood and split rails, to help his father in 




WILLIAM H SEWARD. 



SUMTER FIRED UPON. 275 

carpentry, and in all kinds of farm work. He said of himself 
he went to school "by littles," and that "in all it did not 
amount to more than a year." But he read every book and 
newspaper he could get hold of, and everything he read he 
made his own. Whatever he undertook he mastered. He 
was a storekeeper, a postmaster, and a land surveyor ; later 
he studied law* was elected to the legislature, and was rep- 
resentative in Congress 1847-49 (Sect. 259). He was can- 
didate for United States senator in 1858, but was defeated 
by Stephen A. Douglas, with whom he had travelled through 
the state debating political questions. When nominated for 
the Presidency he was comparatively unknown outside of 
Illinois. His kindly nature, great ability, and broad states- 
manship gained him the affection and confidence of the peo- 
ple to a degree unequalled except in the case of Washington 
(Sect. 354). 

300. Sumter fired upon. (April 12, 1861.) —Shortly after 
the inauguration, the Secretary of State, William H. Seward, 
refused to recognize a delegation sent from the Confederate 
Congress at Montgomery, to treat for an amicable separation. 
On the 8th of April President Lincoln's official notificatton 
that Fort Sumter would be provisioned by force, if necessary, 
reliched the governor of South Carolina, orders having been 
given to send a fleet thither. Before the fleet could reach 
its destination, fire had been opened upon Fort Sumter, 
April 12, by the batteries which had been built along the 
shores of Charleston harbor, and to which Major Anderson 
had replied. After a steady fire of over tAventy-four hours, 
having exhausted his ammunition and the fort being on fire, 
he surrendered, receiving the honors of war, and with his 
troops sailed to New York. No one was killed on either side 
during the bombardment. 



CHAPTER XV. 

CIVIL WAR. 
REFERENCES. 

Note. — It is still too soon to look for a calm history of the Civil War 
and of the years immediately succeeding it. Much light is thrown upon 
the period by the volumes of personal memoirs, recollections, and diaries. 
The periodical literature of the last few years, particularly the articles 
which have appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, Century, Forum, Harper's, 
and the North American Keview, is the source of much information. Poole's 
Index to Periodical Literature has made these articles easy of consultation. 

General. —John C. Ropes, The Story of the Civil War ; Bryant and Gay, 
Popular History of the United States, iv. 447-568 ; W. Wilson, Division and 
Reunion (Epochs of American History), pp. 218-2.38, 239-250 ; E. Channing, 
The United States, pp. 258-289 ; Horace Greeley, The American Conflict, 
i. 449-630, ii. 1-528 ; James G. Blaine, Twenty Years of Congress, i. 313-487 ; 
John G. Nicolay and John Hay, Abraham Lincoln, vols, vi.-x.; Alex. H. 
Stei)hens, The War between the States, ii. 370-575; Jefferson Davis, The 
Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, i. 301-519, ii. 11-515 ; E. A. 
Pollard, The Lost Cause, pp. 108-489; H. A. Wise, Seven Decades of the 
Union, Chaps, xiv., xv.; Goldwin Smith, The United States, pp. 253-273. 

Biographies. — J. T. Morse, Abraham Lincoln ; Ida M. Tarbell, Life of 
Abraham Lincoln ; U. S. Grant, Personal Memoirs ; W. T. Sherman, Me- 
moirs ; P. H. Sheridan, Memoirs ; G. B. McClellan, McClellan's Own Story ; 
A. A. Long, Robert E. Lee ; J. E. Cooke, Robert E. Lee ; J. E. Cooke, 
"Stonewall" Jackson; R. M. Johnston and W. H. Browne, Alex. H. 
Stephens; J. E. Johnston, Personal Memoirs; J. B. Hood, Personal Me- 
moirs ; A. T. Mahan, Admiral Farragut. 

Special. — Alex. Johnston, American Politics, Chap, xx.; Appleton's 
"Annual Cyclopedia, 1861-1863 (contains many valuable documents and 
much important information, but the conclusions and opinions given often 
need revision). For Military Histories: "Campaigns of the Civil War" 

276 



I 



EFFECT OF THE FALL OF SUMTER. 277 

and "The Navy in the Civil War," a series of volumes written by spe- 
cialists ; T. A. Dodge, A Bird's-eye View of the Civil War ; R. Johnson, A 
Short History of the Civil War. Foreign Affairs : W. H. Seward, Diplo- 
matic History of the Civil War ; E. Schuyler, American Diplomacy. F. W. 
Taussig, Tariff History of the United States ; John Jay Knox, United States 
Notes ; Ben Perley Poore, Reminiscences ; L. E. Chittenden, Recollections 
of President Lincoln and his Administration. Emancipation Proclamation : 
Old South Leaflets, No. 11 ; Alex. Johnston, American Orations, iii. 127- 
198 ; Edward McPherson, Political History of the Rebellion. Life in the 
South : Thomas Nelson Page, The Old South ; George Cary Eggieston, A 
Rebel's Recollections ; R. B. Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary ; Atlantic 
Monthly, Iviii. 229, Ixiv. 449 ; Harper's Monthly, xxxiii. 576 ; Century Mag- 
azine, XXX, 752, xxxviii. 931. Capture of New Orleans: Century Magazine, 
xxix. 918. Negro Troops: Horace Greeley, The American Conflict, ii. 511- 
528. Prisoners : Alex. H. Stephens, The War between the States, ii. 498- 
021 ; Horace Greeley, The American Conflict, ii. 761 ; Goldwin Smith, The 
United States, pp. 283, 284. 

301. Effect of the Fall of Fort Sumter ; Baltimore. (1861.) — 

The effect of the news of this engagement was marvellous. 
Up to this time most of the northern men had not believed 
that the South was in earnest ; they thought that the ques- 
tions were political, and like similar ones in the past would 
somehow be settled as heretofore. Others, like Horace 
Greeley of the Neiv York Tribune^ had said if the South 
wished to go she should be allowed to go in peace. A few 
sympathized wholly with the South ; but when the news of 
the fall of Sumter was received, the people of the free states 
seemed to be of one mind, everything else was forgotten ; 
and when President Lincoln, on April 15, two days after 
the surrender, issued his call for 75,000 volunteers, "to 
maintain the honor, the integrity, and the existence of our 
national union," the answer was prompt. Thousands more 
than were called for volunteered, and provisions, money, 
arms, and supplies of all kinds were tendered by states and 
by individuals. 

The first object of the government was to provide for the 



278 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

safety of the city of Washington, for there was a strong prob- 
ability that Virginia would secede. What course the state 
of Maryland would pursue was uncertain ; the politicians, and 
the people of the southern counties were almost wholly in 
sympathy with the South, while the majority of the people 
of the whole state disapproved of secession. At this time, 
however, the true condition of affairs was difficult to ascer- 
tain, and it was due to the promptness of the national gov- 
ernment, and the skill of the governor, supported b}^ some 
able and prominent men, that the state did not secede. As a 
Massachusetts regiment was passing through the city of Bal- 
timore, on the 19th of April, it was attacked by a mob, and a 
number were killed. This was the first blood shed in the 
strife. For a few days the troops avoided Baltimore by going 
down the Chesapeake Bay, landing at Annapolis, and proceed- 
inof thence to Washino^ton. But direct communication was 
soon resumed, and there was no more trouble with Maryland. 

302. Effect of the Fall of Sumter in the South and in the Bor- 
der States. (1861.) — If the effect of the fall of Sumter was 
to unite the North, it also had a similar effect on the South. 
Many who thought secession inexpedient rushed to the defence 
of their states as soon as coercion was begun, and the call for 
troops by the Confederate government was answered with as 
much enthusiasm as the call of Lincoln in the North. Of the 
slave states which ha*d not seceded, North Carolina, Tennes- 
see, Arkansas, and Virginia joined the Confederacy, upon the 
call of the United States government for troops to put down 
the rebellion. Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri, though 
containing many secessionists, remained loyal, while in Dela- 
ware there was little or no sympathy with secession .^ 

1 The states seceded in the following order : Arkansas, May 6 ; North 
Carolina, May 20 ; Virginia, May 23 ; Tennessee, June 8. In no case was 



THE TWO SECTIONS COMPARED. 



279 




CONFEDERATE FLAG. 



303. The Blockade. (1861.) — Jefferson Davis, the presi- 
dent of the Confederacy, replied to Lincoln's call for troops 
and proclamation of April 15, by a proclamation on the 17th 
offering " letters of marque and reprisal " against the United 
States. Lincoln, on the 19th, proclaimed a partial, and, on 
the 23d, a general, blockade of all southern ports. As the 
South had few manufactures, she was largely dependent 
upon supplies from abroad, and in 
order to pay for these it was neces- 
sary to export cotton or tobacco, 
almost the only articles she pro- 
duced which were wanted in Eu- 
rope. The importance to the United 
States of maintaining the blockade 
will readily be seen. The Confed- 
erate states, assuming the position 

of an independent power, formally declared war against the 
United States in April, and war was actually begun. 

304. The Two Sections compared. (1861.) — It will be well 
to review briefly the condition of the whole country, and 
also to compare the two sections now arrayed against each 
other, about to enter the conflict'. By the census of 1860 the 
population was found to have increased more than one-third 
over that of 1850. In material interests, railroads showed 
the most striking increase, there being a total of about 30,000 
miles against 7500 in 1850. In shipping, every country 
except Great Britain was surpassed, while in agriculture the 
lead was taken, the cotton crop alone being estimated at 
5,000,000 bales of 400 pounds each. Manufactures were daily 
increasing, and the country, as a whole, was a hive of industry. 

the action ratified by an untrammelled popular vote. Virginia and Tennes- 
see were both in the possession of the Confederate troops when the vote was 
taken in those states, and no vote at all was taken in the others. 



280 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

But a careful examination would show that the increase in 
population and in wealth was very largely in the free states ; 
and while in them there was a variety of interests, such as 
farming, manufactures, fishing, transportation, and commerce, 
in the slave states the cultivation of cotton and tobacco, but 
chiefly the former wherever practicable, was followed, often 
to the exclusion of other crops. As a result, a very large 
proportion of supplies of nearly every kind came from the 
North, and even the cotton and tobacco of the South were 
exported in ships belonging to the North. But the southern 
leaders Avere fully impressed with the belief that they held 
control of the country through cotton, which, if the North 
could do without, England and the continental nations would 
insist upon having, and so would interfere in case of au}^ 
quarrels between the North and the South. 

305. Comparison of the Sections continued. (1861.) — Dur- 
ing the last ten years Minnesota and Oregon had been 
admitted as free states, and Kansas was ready to come in 
at any moment. Thus the control of the Senate had been 
hopelessly lost to the slave states. The population of the 
free states was 19,128,418 ; of the slave states, 12,315,372; 
but a relatively large proportion of the latter was in the 
border states, and south of these, with the exception of New 
Orleans, there was no large city. If Maryland and Delaware 
were taken out, the number of manufacturing establishments 
was insignificant, while the statistics of wealth showed that 
by far the greater part of the capital of the country was 
held in the free states. (Appendix vii.) 

Each section underestimated the patriotism, the endur- 
ance, the bravery, and the intelligence of the other. The 
South thought that the North was absorbed in money-getting, 
and would sacrifice anything rather than lose its dollars; 



TERRITORY AND ADVANTAGES OF THE SOUTH. 281 

and that if the men of the North did fight, the Southerners 
would more than be a match for them ; it was also thought 
that very many in the North sympathized with the South. 
On the other hand, the North thought the South only meant 
to bluster and threaten ; and, notwithstanding all the lessons 
of past years, northern men did not comprehend how firmly 
the doctrine of state sovereignty was fixed in the southern 
hearts, nor did tliey appreciate the deep affection Southerners 
felt for their native states, which would make even the large 
class of non-slaveholders resent any invasion of their soil. 

306. The Territory and Advantages of the South. (1861.) — 

The seceded states stretched from the Atlantic to the ex- 
treme western point of Texas, and, with the exception of 
Virginia, from nearly the line of 36° 30' to the Gulf of 
Mexico. Their territory comprised about 800,000 square 
miles, with a population of nearly 9,000,000, including 
3,500,000 slaves; their northern line Avas over 2000 miles, 
and their coast line over 3000 miles in length. In spite 
of this vast expanse of territory and large population, 
the resources of the North were far greater, and if other 
nations did not interfere, there was almost everything except 
experience on the side of the North. But few in North or 
South anticipated the magnitude of the impending struggle, 
or understood Avhat principles were involved. 

In some respects the people of the South had the advan- 
tage ; for, acting on the defensive, they needed fewer men ; 
while the North not only had to attack, but also to hold 
the places which might be taken. Many of the ablest 
officers of the United States Army in 1860 were southern men. 
Such were Generals Robert E. Lee, Joseph E. Johnston, 
P. G. T. Beauregard. In fact, almost all the officers of any 
note in the southern army had been educated at West 



282 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Point, but resigned when their states seceded, and joined 
the southern forces. A large part of the military supplies 
in the country had been stored in southern forts, ready for 
use. Again, the South could send all her best lighting men 
to the front, as she had slaves to work on the plantations, 
and to perform the manual labor required in the countr}^ 
Several of these advantages were only temporary, but they 
gave the South a good start. On the other hand, the South 
had no navy,, — a most serious lack, — nor had she merchant 
vessels which could be pressed into service, nor had she 
mechanics or shipyards for the rapid construction of vessels. 
The North, on account of possessing in these respects just 
what the South lacked, was able almost immediately to 
establish a blockade of the southern ports, to the very great 
disadvantage of the South. 

307. '' On to Richmond " ; Bull Run. (1861.) — Three days 
before the people of Virginia were to vote upon the ques- 
tion of secession, the capital of the Confederate States was 
moved from Montgomery, Alabama, to Richmond, Virginia. 
Immediately the cry in the North was " On to Richmond." 
General Winfield Scott, who was in command of the United 
States army, was opposed to any forward movement with 
raw troops, especially with men who had only enlisted for 
three months. But the cry of the newspapers and the peopl( 
at large could not be wholly ignored, and so preparation,' 
were made for an advance towards Richmond. It was alread} 
clear that the battle-ground of the struggle was to be, for 
the most part, in the border states of Virginia, Kentucky, 
Tennessee, and Missouri. The Confederate line, beginning 
at Fortress Monroe on the Chesapeake Ba}^ extended along 
the Potomac to Harper's Ferry. Troops had also been sent to 
the northern border of Tennessee and Kentucky and Missouri. 




m^- ^ \ ' ' r^^^ Lonu'i.uJe We8t_ 



IMPORTANCE OF BULL RUN. 283 

The Confederates had also fortified numerous places on the 
Mississippi, as well as points on the Cumberland and Ten- 
nessee rivers, and were building forts and defences of every 
kind along the coast. The success of United States troops 
in some skirmishes in the mountains of West Virginia gave 
an undue confidence to the northern people, and even Secre- 
tary Seward said that the war would be ended in ninety 
days. The result of this pressure to advance was the first 
battle of Bull Run, known in the South as Manassas, fought 
about thirty miles southwest of Washington. Contrary to 
the general opinion at the time, it appears to have been a 
well-planned, well-executed battle, until the arrival of rein- 
forcements for the Confederates at a moment opportune for 
their cause gave them the day, and the Union defeat soon 
became a rout. So severely had the victors suffered that 
they did not attempt to follow up their advantage. Johnston, 
the Confederate general, said " The Confederate army was 
more disorganized by victor}^ than the United States by 
defeat." The ignorance of the true character of the war, 
shown by the United States troops, is seen from General 
McDowell's words : " They stopped [on tlie way to Bull 
Run] every moment to pick blackberries or get water ; they 
would not keep in the ranks, order as much as you pleased." 

308. Importance of Bull Run. (1861.) — The importance of 
the battle of Bull Run was twofold : first, in its effect upon 
the North ; and second, in its effect upon Europe. The 
people of the North, at first surprised and then dismayed, 
recognized that the conflict was to be no child's play, or even 
a " ninety days' campaign," and so made preparations with 
dogged earnestness for ''three years or the war." The 
European governments were led to believe that the battle 
indicated superiority in the generalship and fighting qualities 



284 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

of the Confederates, and that ultimate victory would be with 
them. The consequence was that, with the exception of 
Russia, the European governments directly and indirectly fa- 
vored the South as far as was practicable with a professed neu- 
trality. This was specially the case with England and France. 

309. McClellan ; Army of the Potomac ; the West. (1861.) — 
George B. McClellau, who had been prominent in the skir- 
mishing in western Virginia, was called to Washington with 
the concurrence of General Scott, to command what now 
had become the " Army of the Potomac." General McClellan 
had been educated at West Point, had seen service in the 
Mexican War, but above all had been successful in Virginia, 
so " Little Mac the soldiers' pride " was believed by the 
northern army and people to be the one man who could 
bring success to the Union army. For the next eight or 
nine months McClellan did little else than drill and organize 
armies ; the South did the same, and for the rest of the year 
no general engagement took place near Washington. In the 
West, under Generals Lyon, Fremont, and Halleck, the Con- 
federate forces were gradually driven out of Missouri, and 
that state lost to the Confederacy. 

310. Northern Plans for the Campaign. (1861.) — It was 
clear to President Lincoln and his advisers that in order to 
insure success it would be necessary (1) to hold the line 
of the Potomac, and, if possible, take Richmond; (2) to 
open the Mississippi to the sea, thus dividing the Confed- 
eracy ; and (3) to maintain a close blockade of the seaports, 
thus cutting off from the South any supplies from abroad. 
The United States cruisers had done what they could to 
make effective the blockade proclaimed by President Lincoln, 
but they were frequently driven off by stress of weather, and 
vessels meanwhile would steal in and out. If it were pos- 



MASON AND SLIDELL. 285 

sible to capture some of the ports, it would make the 
blockade much more effective and much easier. Of all 
the forts on the seacoast from Virginia to the Rio Grande, 
the United States held only two, Fortress Monroe at the 
mouth of the James, and Fort Pickens, near Pensacola, 
Florida. Fort Pickens was retained by a stratagem similar 
to that of Major Anderson at Fort Sumter, but which, 
unlike his, was successful. In the summer of 1861 a naval 
expedition was fitted out by the United States, which took 
Hatteras Inlet and the forts defending it. Later another 
expedition took Port Royal, South Carolina, and a number 
of the islands on the coast, also an island near the mouth of 
the Mississippi. These places not only lessened the oppor- 
tunities for running the blockade, but became depots of 
supplies for the Union fleets, and also points from which 
to make attacks. 

311. Mason and Slidell. (1861.) — One of the most impor- 
tant incidents of the whole struggle took place during the 
fall of this year (1861). As has been seen, it was essential 
for the success of the Confederacy that the government 
should obtain supplies from abroad, and, in order to do this, 
the recognition of the Confederacy by European governments 
as an independent nation would be of incalculable assistance. 
Accordingly, four envoys were sent to Europe. Escaping 
the blockade, they reached Cuba, and there took passage in 
the British vessel Trent, for England. On November 8, 
Captain Charles Wilkes, commanding the United States 
steamer San Jacinto, stopped the Trent near the Bahamas, 
and took out the Confederate envoys, James M. Mason and 
John Slidell, with their two companions, and brought them 
to Boston, where they were confined in Fort Warren. On 
receipt of this news both countries were thrown into great 



286 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

, excitement. Great Britain sent war supplies and troops to 
Canada, and in very blunt language demanded the return 
of the commissioners and a suitable apology for the offence. 
In America the act of Captain Wilkes was loudly applauded, 
the House of Representatives passed a resolution that 
the thanks of the Congress were due to him, and that he 
deserved a gold medal for his conduct. For a short time it 
seemed as if war between England and the United States 
was inevitable. But the United States had always opposed 
this right of search, and not to return the prisoners was to 
reverse the whole previous policy of the government and to 
disavow its most cherished principles. The prisoners were 
accordingly given up to the British government. Secretary 
Seward also took occasion to say that Captain Wilkes had 
acted entirely upon his own responsibility in the matter, and 
without direction from the government. The people of the 
North, however, felt that England had been unnecessarily 
rude, and much hard feeling was the result.^ 

312. Condition of Affairs in the South and in the North. 
(January, 1862.) — By the close of the year it was evident 
that the struggle would be long and severe. While 
the Confederates had been generally successful in actual 
conflict, their operations had been little more than defensive. 
They had failed to secure the accession of Maryland, Ken- 
tucky, or Missouri, or to gain any permanent foothold north 
of the Potomac, and the city of Washington was farther 
beyond their reach than ever. Though recognized as belliger- 
ents, their government had not been acknowledged by the 
European powers. Their whole coast had been fairly well 
blockaded, and at least three important points on it had been 

1 Captain Wilkes had been the commander of the well-known exploring 
expedition which had been sent out by the United States to visit the 
southern seas and Antarctic Ocean in 1838-1842. 



FIGHTING IN THE WEST; GENERAL GRANT. 287 

captured, while all along their northern border large armies 
of Federal troops, inexperienced, indeed, but daily increasing 
in efficiency, were preventing invasion, and were threatening 
an attack as soon as they were sufficiently drilled. Without 
commerce, and almost without manufactures, the South was 
not in a good condition to sustain a long war. Skilful officers, 
a brave army, and a united people are not the only essen- 
tials to success. On the other hand, the Union states were 
having no experience of actual warfare. Everything with 
them was going on much as usual ; commerce and manu- 
factures were perhaps even more active than formerly. 
A large army and navy had been raised with but little 
difficulty. The South was almost surrounded by fleets and 
armies, and the North, instead of being disheartened by the 
want of success in the field, was only nerving itself for 
greater efforts and profiting by its mistakes. The Congress 
at Washington, in which the war party had an overwhelm- 
ing majorit}^, voted men and money without hesitation, and 
passed acts approving and legalizing the orders of President 
Lincoln issued since March 4. In the border states the 
writ of habeas corpus had been suspended, and the arrests 
of men suspected of aiding and abetting the Confederacy 
were frequent. Distasteful as this was to very many, it was 
believed to be a military necessity, for the South had many 
friends who did their best to send supplies and information 
across the lines. Washington was full of southern sympa- 
thizers, and many in the emplo3anent of the government 
itself furnished information of the greatest value to the 
southern cause. 

313. Fighting^ in the West ; General Grant. (1862.) — The 
first fighting of the year 1862 was in the West. The Con- 
federates had built two forts in northern Tennessee to pro- 



288 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

tect that state from invasion : Fort Henry on the Tennessee, 
and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River. To reduce 
these places, General Ulysses S. Grant (p. 343), who had 
already shown military ability, was to co-operate with Com- 
modore A. H. Foote, who was to ascend the river with a fleet 
of gunboats. Before Grant could reach Fort Henry it had 
surrendered to the gunboats, and the combined forces pro- 
ceeded against Fort Donelson. After three days' fighting the 
commander asked what terms would be given, to which Grant 
replied : " No terms except an unconditional and immediate 
surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately 
upon your works." The surrender was a necessity, and by 
it about 15,000 prisoners and a large quantity of arms fell 
into the hands of the Union army. This was the first great 
victory on the Union side and was an important one, for it 
compelled the Confederates to abandon Kentuck}^, and also 
to leave nearly the whole of the state of Tennessee in the 
control of the Union forces. This victory brought Grant 
before the country as an able and promising officer. Two 
months later, April 6, Grant was attacked at Pittsburg Land- 
ing, or Shiloh, on the Tennessee, near the southern boundary 
of the state, by General Albert Sidney Johnston, and might 
possibly have been defeated but for the arrival of General 
Buell with reinforcements. The Confederates retired with 
the loss of uheir general killed, and over 10,000 men killed, 
wounded, and missing. On the Union side the losses were 
even greater in men, and no attempt was made at an immedi- 
ate pursuit. It was a dearly bought victory. The next day 
Island No. 10 on the Mississippi, surrendered to Commo- 
dore Foote, which opened the river to the United States 
forces as far as Fort Pillow. ^ 

1 The islands in the Mississippi, beginning at tlie mouth of the Ohio and 
going southward, were numbered 1, 2, 3, and so on. 



MONITOR AND MERIIIMAC. 289 

314. Monitor and Merrimac ; Farragut takes New Orleans. 
(1862.) — So far the advantage in the West had been de- 
cidedly in the favor of the Union forces. At the time 
of the capture of the navy-yard at Norfolk, Virginia, the 
frigate Merrimac had been taken, after having been partly 
burnt, and then had been turned, by the Confederates, into 
an ironclad ship, with a beak to run into an enemy's vessel. 
Ironclads were not new, but they had never been tried in 
actual warfare. The Merrimae^ or Virginia^ as she was 
now called, being all ready for trial, sailed out of Norfolk 
Harbor, March 8, 1862. In Hampton Roads, near by, were 
four or five of the best ships of war in the United States 
navy. Tliese the new sea-monster, for such she seemed to 
be, attacked ; and though they literally rained shot and shell 
on her, they could make no impression upon her iron sides. 
She ran into the Cumberland and sunk her. The others 
would have met a similar fate had not night come on, when 
the Meri'imac returned to Norfolk. The news spread dismay 
in the North. There seemed nothing to prevent the terrible 
vessel from going to Baltimore, Wasliington, or any of the 
northern seaports, wdiich would be utterly at her mercy. 
About two hours after the Merrimac had left Hampton 
Roads for the night, a strange little craft, named the Monitor^ 
arrived from New York. Built from the design of John 
Ericsson, the inventor of the steam propeller (sect. 234), she 
seemed altogether unable to cope with so formidable an 
antagonist, but the next day, after a fight of four hours, the 
Merrimac retired to Norfolk, and did no more damage ; she 
was destroyed by the Confederates when they abandoned 
Norfolk later in the war. This short conflict revolutionized 
naval warfare the world over. Wooden vessels were seen to 
be helpless against the ironclads, and every maritime nation 
began to build ironclads of one kind or another. The United 



290 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

States as soon as possible added a number of monitors, as 
they were called, to its navy. The joy of the North at the 
result of this action was proportional to its previous dismay. 
During the spring of this year several points on the coast 
were captured until all the good ports of the Atlantic, except 
Savannah, Charleston, and Wilmington, North Carolina, 
were held by the Union forces. In February an expedition, 
commanded by General Benjamin F. Butler and Commodore 
David G. Farragut, sailed from Chesapeake Bay to try to take 
New Orleans. Farragut, a native of Tennessee, was a resident 
of Virginia at the outbreak of the war, but refused to follow 
his state. He had entered the navy in 1812, and was therefore 
a veteran in the service. After spending a week in the vain 
endeavor to capture the forts which had been erected to defend 
the approach to New Orleans by the river, he determined to 
push past them. After a desperate struggle he succeeded, 
and two days later (April 25) New Orleans surrendered, a 
great loss to the Confederacy. The forts below the city soon 
surrendered also. General Butler remained in charge of 
New Orleans, but the fleet went up the Mississippi, and soon 
the whole river, with the exception of Vicksburg and one or 
two other points, was open to the Union forces. 

315. Peninsular Campaign ; General R. E. Lee. (1862.) — In 

Virginia the war was prosecuted almost without intermission. 
The Army of the Potomac, under McClellan, had been drilled 
and organized till the authorities at Washington and the 
})eople at large thought it was high time to be moving for- 
ward. After much consultation and urging, McClellan 
determined to move his army down the Potomac, and 
approach Richmond from the southeast. This was accord- 
ingly done, leaving McDowell near Fredericksburg to protect 
Washington, and leaving also a force in the Shenandoah 




ROBERT E. LEE. 



GENERAL R. E. LEE; BULL RUN; ANTIETAM. 291 

valley under Banks. The Confederate army was commanded 
by General Joseph E. Johnston. McClellan moved his army 
down the Chesapeake on transports. Landing near the 
mouth 'of the James River, he proceeded to attack York- 
town. It took a month to capture this place, and mean- 
while Johnston was getting ready to repel an attack upon 
Richmond. After taking Yorktown, McClellan pushed on 
towards Richmond, and succeeded in getting within a few 
miles of it. Then the Chickahominy, a small stream, but 
swollen by sudden rains, divided his forces. Johnston at 
once attacked the weaker division of McClellan's army, and, 
though Johnston was wounded and forced to retire, he had 
succeeded in delaying McClellan. Meanwhile Jackson, who 
had been sent to attack Banks, drove him down the valley 
towards Washington, so frightening the authorities that 
McDowell was hastily recalled to defend the city. The 
wounded Johnston was succeeded by General Robert E. Lee. 
Lee, a native of Virginia, was born in 1807, and was gradu- 
ated from West Point in 1829. He was in the Mexican 
War, was superintendent of West Point 1852-1855, and 
was the captain of the forces which captured John Brown at 
Harper's Ferry (sect. 293). Though not at first a seces- 
sionist, he had resigned his commission in the United States 
Army when it was clear that Virginia would certainly go with 
the South, and by his remarkable military skill did more 
than any one man to strengthen the Confederacy. Many 
military critics have considered him to be the ablest general 
on either side. 

316. Failure to take Richmond ; Bull Run ; Antietam. (1862.) 
— Jackson having disposed of Banks, and McDowell being 

1 After the war Lee became President of Washington and Lee University, 
Lexington, Virginia, which post he held until his death in 1870. 



292 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



held back to protect Washington, Lee was ready to attack 
McClellan. This he did, and, after seven days' almost con- 
tinuous fighting, forced him back to the James River. Here 
Lee was repulsed, but the attempt to take Richmond was a 
failure. Lee, who had recalled General Thomas J. Jackson's 
division from the valley, determined to attack Pope, who 
commanded the Union forces near Washington. The armies 
met on the old field of Bull Run, and Pope was defeated. 

McClellan was hastily called 
back from the Peninsula to 
protect Washington. This was 
just what Lee wished, as it gave 
him an opportunity, now that 
Richmond was temporarily safe, 
to make further advance move- 
ments, or even to invade the 
North. By September (1862) 
the two armies occupied about 
the same positions as early in 
the year, and apparently noth- 
ing had been gained by either 
side. Lee and Jackson were 
as active and ready as Mc- 
Clellan was slow and cautious. Owing to the firmness 
with which Jackson had resisted assaults at the first battle 
of Bull Run, he was nicknamed " Stonewall " Jackson, by 
which sobriquet he is universally known. The Confederates 
now thought it a good time to attempt an invasion of 
the North, and the first thing that the North heard was 
that Lee had crossed the Potomac above Washington, had 
taken Frederick, Maryland, and was preparing to move on 
Baltimore or Philadelphia. McClellan followed, forcing Lee 
to turn more to the west. Meantime, Harper's Ferry with 




'STONEWALL" JACKSON. 



FREDERICKSBURG; MURFREESBORO ; SLAVERY. 293 

11,000 men, besides stores, fell into the Confederate hands. 
The armies met near Sharpsburg, on Antietam Creek, Mary- 
land, and after a severe battle (September 17), Lee was 
forced to retire across the Potomac after a loss on each side 
of over 12,000 men. Lee had been much disappointed in 
meeting with so little sympathy in Maryland. McClellan 
did not follow up the retreating army, and, in consequence of 
this and other seeming or real dilatoriness, was removed 
from the command, and did not have any further active duty 
assigned him during the war. 

317. Fredericksburg ; Murfreesboro. (1862.) — The com- 
mand of the Army of the Potomac was given to General 
Ambrose E. Burnside. If McClellan was over-cautious, 
Burnside was rash. Attempting to reach Richmond by the 
way of the Rappahannock and Fredericksburg, his army was 
driven back and defeated (December 13), with a terrible loss 
of life. The unfortunate Army of the Potomac changed 
commanders again, with the appointment of General Joseph 
Hooker. 

In the West the Union forces had been gradually advanc- 
ing, and had occupied Corinth in northern Mississippi. 
Though the Confederates had made a few successful raids 
into Tennessee and Kentucky, the result of the year's cam- 
paign was decidedly against them. On the very last day of 
the year, 1862, a severe battle had been fought at Murfrees- 
boro, Tennessee, between Rosecrans, the Union general, and 
Braxton Bragg, the Confederate, resulting in the retreat of 
Bragg, after a heavy loss on both sides. 

318. Slavery; "Contraband." (1861.) — At the beginning 
of the war there was no disposition to interfere with slavery. 
Indeed, President Lincoln in his inaugural said, quoting 



294 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

from one of his own campaign speeches, " I have no purpose, 
directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slav- 
ery in the states where it exists. I believe I have no lawful 
right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so." McClel- 
Ian, in West Virginia, when beginning hostilities, issued a 
proclamation, in which, addressing those who were loyal to 
the United States, he said, " Not only will we abstain from all 
such interference Avith your slaves, but we will, on the con- 
trary, with an iron hand crush any attempt at insurrection on 
their part." All the Union generals did not hold these views. 
In May, 1861, some fugitive slaves having come into the camp 
of General Butler at Fortress Monroe, he had refused to give 
them up to their owner, who, commanding the Confederate 
forces near by, asked by a flag of truce that they should be 
returned to him under the fugitive slave law. Butler replied 
that slaves were contraband of war, as they could be used in 
working on fortifications and in other ways. This name of 
" Contraband " was applied to the ex-slaves for a long time. 

319. Slavery ; Emancipation Proclamation. (1861-1863.) — In 

August, 1861, General John C. Fremont, who had been com- 
missioned as major-general and sent to Missouri, issued a 
proclamation, declaring that all citizens Avho should take up 
arms against the United States, or assist its enemies, should 
have their property confiscated and " their slaves, if au}^ they 
have, are hereby declared free men." This order, so far as it 
related to the slaves, was annulled by the President. In 
South Carolina General Hunter, in May, 1862, in a military 
order, said, " Slavery and martial law in a free country are 
altogether incompatible. The persons in these three states, 
Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina, heretofore held as 
slaves, are therefore declared forever free." He also mus- 
tered a regiment of negroes into the service. The President 



EMANCIPATION A WAR MEASURE; EFFECT. 295 

annulled the proclamation of Hunter, as dealing with ques- 
tions beyond the authority of " commanders in the field " to 
decide. He also, at the same time, in his proclamation 
besought the people to embrace the offer of compensated 
emancipation, proposed by the United States Congress. 
Nevertheless, the feeling in the North, against slavery any- 
where, was rapidly growing. Lincoln never pressed his 
views much in advance of public opinion. He bided his 
time until he thought the hour had come, and then he spoke 
or acted. He had already considered the subject carefully, 
and was only waiting a suitable time to speak. This seemed 
to be after the battle of Antietam. 

320. Emancipation a War Measure; Effect. (1863-1865.) — 

On the 22d of September, 1862, President Lincoln issued a 
proclamation, stating that on the first day of January, 1863, 
"all persons held as slaves within any state or designated 
part of a state, the people whereof shall be in rebellion against 
the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever 
free." Those portions were designated which were not under 
the control of the Union government, for the President did 
not claim the power to issue such an order respecting those 
states which had not seceded. Of course, no notice was 
taken of this preliminary proclamation by the districts named, 
and on January 1, 1863, he issued the proclamation of which 
he had given one hundred days' notice. In this he declared 
the power was invested in him as " Commander-in-chief of 
the Army and Navy of the United States," claiming that it 
was "a fit and necessary war measure," This proclamation 
ended by saying, " And upon this act, sincerely believed to 
be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon mili- 
tary necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind 
and the gracious favor of Almighty God." 



296 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

This proclamation for the first time officially struck at 
slavery, and henceforth not only made the war a struggle 
to maintain the union of the states, but one to eradicate 
slavery also. Perhaps its greatest effect was abroad, for the 
long and brave resistance of the South had begun to make 
the Europeans think that she might succeed after all, and 
ought, perhaps, to be recognized; but now any recognition 
of her independence, or any help which might be officially 
extended to her, would be at least an indirect support to 
slavery. The most important immediate result was the 
employment of negroes and fugitive slaves in the armies 
of the Union. They had already been employed by the 
Confederates in throwing up embankments, and as team- 
sters, and for other purposes. The faithfulness of the 
negroes to their southern masters, particularly on the planta- 
tions, where often there were no white men, has scarcely 
been paralleled in history, and is worthy of great admiration. 
The enlistment of negroes by the Federal government was 
resented by the South, and led finally to a cessation of the 
exchange of prisoners; for as the Confederate authorities 
naturally refused to exchange any black soldiers or their 
white officers captured in battle, the United States govern- 
ment refused to exchange at all, being bound to protect 
equally all who had entered its service. About 180,000 
negroes entered the armies of the United States during the 
war, and their record was a creditable one. 

321. Prisoners of War. (1861-1865.) — Of the evils inci- 
dent to war, the confinement and treatment of prisoners is 
not the least ; and when exchange of prisoners is not prac- 
tised, or is much restricted, the evils are greatly aggravated. 
This, true of all wars, was sorrowfully true of the Civil War 
in America. Seldom, if ever, have such heart-rending suffer- 



THE SIOUX WAR; VICKSBURG. 297 

ings been endured, and Anderson ville has become almost a 
synonym for terrible suffering.^ 

322. The Sioux War. (1862.)— To add to the difficulties 
of the United States, the Sioux Indians in Dakota and west- 
ern Minnesota revolted in the summer of 1862. They had 
complained of unjust treatment and non-fulfilment of treaties, 
all of which was doubtless true ; and so, to avenge their 
wrongs, they fell upon the whites, killing men, women, and 
children. A detachment from the army soon put an end to 
this "war, and a number of the Indians were tried, found 
guilty of murder, and hanged. It was another instance of 
the result of the policy so long pursued by the government 
towards the red man. 

323. Campaign in the West; Vicksburg. (1863.) — In the 

West and Southwest there were four Union armies. One 
under Grant, not far from Corinth, Mississippi; one under 
Rosecrans, near Murfreesboro, Tennessee ; one under Banks, 
in Louisiana ; and one under Schofield, in Arkansas. The 
main object of all these armies was to open the Mississippi 
River, and thus divide the Confederacy. Vicksburg and 
Port Hudson were still held by the Confederates, and were 
very strong points. Leaving the neighborhood of Corinth, 
Grant, with the cooperation of gunboats and transports, tried 
plan after plan in order to defeat the Confederate forces, and 
to reduce Vicksburg, but again and again his efforts were 
unsuccessful. He then occupied the country east of the 
city, and, having taken Jackson, the capital of the state of 
Mississippi, he made several assaults upon the fortifications, 
but in vain. 

1 " Of that camp, the Confederate inspector-general spoke as a place of 
horrors beyond description." 



298 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

He now settled down to a regular siege of the place 
after driving away a Confederate army that w^as endeavor- 
ing to force its way, under J. E. Johnston, to the relief of 
Vicksburg. In these movements there was manifested a 
want of harmon}^ between Johnston commanding the south- 
ern army in the field, and Pemberton who was shut up in 
the city. 

324. Chancellorsville ; Lee invades Pennsylvania. (1863.) — 

In the East, Hooker (sect. 318) had been bus}^ in reorganiz- 
ing the Army of the Potomac Avith success. At last he 
determined to approach Richmond over the direct route by 
way of the Rappahannock. Lee met him at a small place 
called Chancellorsville ; and Hooker Avas defeated (May 2, 
3, 1863), Avith a loss of about 17,000 men. On the Confed- 
erate side the loss in numbers Avas not so great; but they 
lost their great soldier " StoncAA^all " Jackson, AAdio Avas shot 
by his OAvn men in the dusk of the evening, under the suppo- 
sition that he and his staff were enemies. Lee noAv resoh^ed 
on a second invasion of the North, and in fact it Avas forced 
upon him by public opinion. His army consisted of 73,000 
A^eteran troops, and with these he moved toAvards the Shenan- 
doah valley. Hooker at first retreated toAvards Washington 
to defend it from an attack ; but Avhen Lee's movements 
Avere comprehended, he likewise made for Pennsylvania. 
Lee crossed the Potomac, and pushed across Maryland. En- 
tering Pennsylvania, he captured Chambersburg. A part of 
his force got as far east as York, and his cavalry Avere Avithin 
sight of Harrisburg itself. The North Avas Avith good reason 
frightened ; the militia Avere hastily called out, and hurried 
forward to protect Philadelphia and Harrisburg and to help 
to SAvell the army. This Avas in June. MeauAvhile Hooker, 
annoyed by the orders of General Halleck at Washing- 



GETTYSBURG; VICKSBURG; CHATTANOOGA. 299 

ton, on the 27tli asked to be relieved of the command of 
the army. 

325. Gettysburg. (1863.) — He was succeeded by General 
George G. Meade, of Pennsylvania. General Meade was a 
graduate of West Point, had served in the Mexican War, 
and liad been in the Army of the Potomac since its organiza- 
tion. He retained his position until the close of the war. 
A steady officer who would run few risks, he conducted the 
remainder of the campaign in his own way. As Lee was on 
his way eastward, the two armies met at Gettysburg. A 
dreadful battle followed, lasting three days (July 1, 2, 3), — 
no field was more stubbornly contested ; but Lee was defeated 
and forced to retreat, with a loss of about 23,000, the same 
as that of the Union army ; 46,000, about one-third of the 
men engaged in the conflict, were killed, wounded, or missing. 
Lee retreated across the Potomac, and no further attempt 
was made to invade the North. It was, indeed, out of the 
question ; all that he could do was to resist attacks and pro- 
long the struggle. Meade followed the Confederates slowly 
until both armies were not far from the place from which 
they had started. Gettysburg, the greatest battle on Amer- 
ican soil, was also the turning-point of the war. 

326. Vicksburg ; Chattanoog^a. (1863.) — Meanwhile, Grant 
had been besieging Vicksburg until it had been forced to 
surrender the day after the battle of Gettysburg, the 4th of 
July, and 32,000 men were taken prisoners. A few days 
later Port Hudson surrendered to Banks, thus opening the 
Mississippi to its mouth. The Confederates still held the 
strong position of Chattanooga, which commanded eastern 
Tennessee and the entrance to Georgia. By skilful manoeu- 
vring Rosecrans caused Bragg to retire until Chattanooga 



300 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

was evacuated, when Rosecrans occupied it at once ; but 
later Bragg, having received reinforcements, attacked Rose- 
crans and defeated him at the battle of Chickamauga (Sep- 
tember 19, 20), where, had it not been for the steadiness of 
General Thomas, the defeat would have been a rout. As it 
was, each army lost upwards of 16,000 men, and while Bragg 
gained the victory, he did not get Chattanooga, which was 
his object, though he shut up the Union forces in the town 
and more than once nearly forced a surrender. Grant, by 
his successes, had become one of the best known generals, 
and now all the western armies were put under his orders. 
He came to Chattanooga and took charge, bringing some 
reinforcements and also the officers whom he had proved 
in his previous campaign, among them W. T. Sherman. 
Chattanooga was relieved from a state of siege. Bragg still 
held strong positions on the hills, and from these Grant de- 
termined, if possible, to drive him. In this he was entirely 
successful, and as part of the battle was fought on the moun- 
tain summit above the mists of the valley, it has been known 
as the " battle above the clouds." Bragg retreated to Dal- 
ton, Georgia, and was superseded by Joseph E. Johnston. 
This happened late in November, 1863, and all was quiet in 
the West for some time. 

327. Morgan's Raid. (1863.) — One of the most striking 
incidents of this year (1863) was the cavalry raid of the Con- 
federate officer John Morgan. Starting from Tennessee, he 
passed through Kentucky, his force being increased by sym- 
pathizers as he proceeded ; capturing one or two towns on the 
way, he reached the Ohio River, and seizing two steamers, 
crossed into Indiana ; he then turned towards Ohio, and 
crossed the southern part of the state, going by night 
through the very outskirts of Cincinnati. Everywhere he 



THE BLOCKADE; NAVAL OPERATIONS. 301 

went he plundered and destroyed. He created the greatest 
alarm, and soon not only were regular troops sent after him, 
but also almost every one in that part of the country capable 
of bearing arms joined in the pursuit. Finding the whole 
country was aroused, he made for the Ohio River, on the 
banks of which he was finally captured. He was placed in 
confinement, but managed to escape and get again within the 
southern lines ; his was the most daring of all the raids, and 
gave the inhabitants of the country through which the troops 
passed some experience of what war really was. 

328. The Blockade; Naval Operations. (1863.) — The navy 
had not been quiet during the year ; the blockade was main- 
tained with vigor, and it became more and more difficult for 
the "blockade runners," as the vessels were called, to slip 
into the one or two ports which were not held by the Union 
forces. An attempt was made by a Union naval force to 
take Fort Sumter, but it was a failure. Later in the year a 
naval and military force, under General Quincy A. Gillmore, 
made a desperate attack, battered Fort Sumter to pieces and 
took Fort Wagner, one of the outer harbor defences. Shells 
were thrown into Charleston itself, but the city was not 
taken. The Confederates built a ram, the Atlanta^ in the 
Savannah River ; she was similar in build to the Merrimac^ 
but on her way to the sea, encountering the monitor Wee- 
hawken^ she was captured after a short action. 

329. Destruction of American Shipping by Privateers. (1861- 
1865.) — The South, from the very first, had expected the 
European governments to interfere for the sake of getting sup- 
plies of cotton, if for nothing else. They also hoped to secure 
a navy, but the close blockade maintained by the United 
States prevented any vessels built in the South from getting 



302 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

to sea. In England, agents of the Confederate government 
succeeded in having several vessels built, armed, and manned, 
contrary to international law, which does not permit of fit- 
ting out an armed vessel against a friendly power. Charles 
Francis Adams, the American minister at London, warned 
the British government of the nature of the vessels and their 
destination ; but for some reason or other, it did not attempt 
to stop them in time. They were allowed to put to sea, and 
the result was, that many vessels were captured, and Ameri- 
can shipping was almost driven from the ocean, owners of 
vessels transferring their ships to foreign flags in order to 
prevent the Confederate privateers from capturing them. 
By a United States law, no vessel which has been transferred 
from the American flag can be restored to it except by special 
act of Congress, and so these vessels were permanently lost 
to the American marine, which has never regained its former 
position. This, however, is not wholly due to the depreda- 
tions of the privateers. The most noted of these privateers 
were the Alabama^ the G-eorgia^ the Shenandoah^ and the 
Florida. Most of these vessels answered Secretary Seward's 
description of the Alabama : "She was purposely built for 
war against the United States by British subjects in a 
British port. . . . When she was ready she was sent . . . 
and her armament and equipment Avere sent ... to a 
common port outside of the British waters, . . . and she was 
sent forth on her work of destruction with a crew chiefly of 
British subjects." Tlie Alabama alone took sixty-five vessels, 
most of which she burned. These captures gave rise to the 
celebrated " Alabama Claims " and to the Geneva Arbitration 
Csect. 370). The inability to secure a navy was a serious 
blow to the Confederacy. Could she have had a navy, the 
Federal blockade would have been very much more difficult 
to maintain, and she might have attacked the seaports of the 
North also. 



CONSCRIPTION NORTH AND SOUTH. 303 

330. Conscription North and South. (1862-1863.) — The 

novelty of the war had worn off by the summer of 1863, and 
enlistments for the army were decreasing rapidly ; so it was 
deemed necessary to resort to conscription or a draft. There 
was much objection to this, especially in the city of New York, 
and on the 13th of July, 1863, there was a serious riot, and 
the mob practically had control of affairs for several days. 
During this time about fifty buildings were burnt, over two 
million dollars' worth of property destroyed, and a number of 
lives sacrificed. The mob had a special hatred towards col- 
ored people. Several of these were brutally murdered, and 
among the buildings burned was the Colored Orphans' Asy- 
lum ; fortunately, there was time to hurry the children out 
by a back door before the rioters gained access in front. The 
riot was finally put down by the police, aided by some troops 
who were hurried from the field of Gettysburg for the 
purpose. It was estimated that over 1200 of the rioters 
were killed. Conscription was not directly very successful 
at the North, but it tended to increase the volunteering, 
and so far answered the purpose. In the South, conscrip- 
tion had been first resorted to in April, 1862. All men 
between the ages of eighteen and forty -five years, except 
those who were mentally or physically unfit for service, were 
enrolled as liable to be called upon. By the second law, 
passed February, 1864, all white men between seventeen and 
fifty were enrolled. There were in the North many ex- 
emptions for various reasons. In the South, the exemptions 
were very much fewer than in the North, and the law Avas 
very much more rigorously enforced. There were no sub- 
stitutes as in the North ; for ever}^ able-bodied man was him- 
self already a conscript. In the North few, if any, of those 
who had conscientious scruples against fighting suffered 
much. In the South many endured much suffering for con- 



304 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

science' sake. From those enrolled as above, men were 
chosen to go into the army as needed, by lot. Hence the 
term " draft." 

331. Plans to raise Revenue. (1861.) — The debt of the 
United States in 1860 was only about 165,000,000. The ordi- 
nary revenues of the country were wholly inadequate to sup- 
port the armies and the navy which had been called into exist- 
ence, and some new way to raise money had to be devised. 
The two principal means open to a nation for raising funds 
are (1) Taxation ; (2) Borrowing. The latter involves tax- 
ation, but it is not so evident. Up to 1861, the United 
States chiefly made use of the second plan. At the special 
session of Congress held in July of the same year, the duties 
on many articles of import were increased, and later internal 
taxation was resorted to. Congress also made use of the 
second means to a large extent. This last can be done in 
two ways : first, by issuing bonds, agreeing to pay interest on 
the sum named in the bond at a certain rate per annum ; 
secondly, by issuing bills, similar to bank-bills, promising to 
pay on demand the sum named in the bill. Congress tried 
both of these plans. But the expenses of the war increasing 
more and more, the loans and bills authorized did not suffice. 
On December 30, 1861, the banks of the country suspended 
specie payment, as they had done several times before, nota- 
bly in 1837 (sect. 243). The government was forced to 
follow^ their example, and soon neither gold nor silver was to 
be seen in circulation. 

332. '^ Greenbacks " and Small Notes. (1862.) — People 
were driven to all sorts of expedients "to make change," 
and, as in 1837, business firms issued " tokens," and notes 
for small amounts redeemable in sums of one dollar or ov^er; 



"PllEMIUM ON (U)LD." 305 

but the most popular way was to enclose postage stamps in 
small envelopes, with the amount enclosed written or printed 
on the outside. Bjit the government soon issued bills of the 
denominations of fifty cents, twenty-five cents, etc., which 
met the demand for change. It was plain that something 
more had to be done. So, early in 1862, Congress author- 
ized the issue of bills of various denominations, which were 
called, from the color of the backs of the bills, "greenbacks"; 
these bills were made a legal tender i for everything except 
payment of duties on imports, and of interest on the public 
debt. It was thought that if the interest on the debt was 
made payable in coin, the loans would be more readily sub- 
scribed to, both at home and abroad, and in order to get the 
gold coin to do this, duties were required to be paid in gold. 

333. "Premium on Gold." (1862-1879.) — Though many 
think differently, there are some who hold that it was a mis- 
taken policy to have issued so much paper money, if it was not 
an error to issue any. It is so easy to manufacture paper 
money and put it into circulation, that the temptation to issue 
it, great at any time, is almost irresistible in times of emer- 
gency. Early in 1862 gold began, as it w^as said, to demand 
a premium in "greenbacks." In reality it was the paper 
money which declined and which should have been quoted 
at a discount, because gold was the standard with which the 
bills were compared, but it was thought not only more 
patriotic, but also a matter of policy, to quote gold at a 
premium rather than bills at a discount. As the payment 
of the greenbacks in coin depended upon the success of the 
government in the war, the " premium on gold " was regarded 
as a sort of thermometer or bulletin by which to estimate 

1 Legal tender is money or currency which the law authorizes a debtor to 
offer in payment of a debt, and requires the creditor to receive. 



306 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the probable result of the conflict. In the early part of 
1862 the premium was two per cent; in December it was 
thirty-three per cent; in December, 1863, notwithstanding 
the successes of Gettysburg and Vicksburg, it was fifty-one 
per cent ; in June, 1864, the premium was one hundred per 
cent, making the paper dollar worth but fifty cents in gold. 
In July, 1864, the premium reached the highest point, one 
hundred and eighty-five, making the paj^er dollar worth only 
about thirty-five cents in gold. From this time the premium 
gradually declined, until the United States resumed specie 
payment in 1879, when, of course, the bills were exchange- 
able for gold at their face value. As it would not do to 
issue too many bills, large loans were negotiated on as good 
terms as possible. The large issue of "greenbacks" inflated 
prices, making the government pay higher rates for every- 
thing, thus increasing the debt vastly, besides making the 
amount of yearly interest to be paid far greater. It is 
estimated that the debt was increased in this way several 
hundred millions of dollars. By the end of 1863 the expense 
of carrying on the war was enormous, the daily cost of the 
army and navy being nearly #3,000,000, and during the latter 
part of the next year it was still greater. 

334. Finances in the South. (1862-1865.) — In the Con- 
federacy a somewliat similar but worse state of affairs existed. 
Taxes were laid on almost everything that could be taxed, 
and notes were issued payable "six months after the ratifica- 
tion of peace with the United States." Bonds were also 
issued to a large amount. Many of these latter were sold 
in Europe. As the success of the South became more doubtful 
these bonds fell in value, until at last they became worthless.^ 

1 By Amendment XIV. of the Constitution, "debts incurred in aid of 
insurrection or rebellion against the United States" are " illegal and void." 



FINANCES IN THE SOUTH; NATIONAL BANK ACT. 307 

The notes also became more and more depreciated, until 
in some places the curious spectacle was seen of " greenbacks " 
being accepted by the Confederates in preference to their 
own currency. Though the advance in prices was great in 
the North, it was small in comparison with that in the Soutli. 
Early in May, 1864, the following were some of the prices 
quoted at Richmond in Confederate money: shoes, ^125 per 
pair ; flour, t|>275 per barrel ; bacon, f 9 per pound ; potatoes, 
#25 per bushel; butter, $15 per pound. Many of what are 
considered the necessaries of life were absolutely unobtainable, 
so close was the blockade of the ports. The suffering in the 
South for the Avant of many things was very great, and it 
fell heavily upon the women and children who had to stay 
at home. The lack of quinine and other drugs was also 
severely felt. 

335. National Bank Act. (1863.) — The United States 
Congress passed the National Bank Act in 1863. By its 
provisions banks could be organized under a national law, 
and on depositing United States bonds with the United 
States Treasurer at Washington, could issue notes to the 
amount of ninety per cent of the par value of the bonds so 
deposited, these bonds to be held as security for the notes. 
As the redemption of these notes was certain, they Avere 
accepted everywhere, regardless of the place of issue, and 
formed an admirable circulating medium. A market was 
also provided for United States bonds, and the interest of 
the people in the stability of tlie government was greatly 
strengthened. Later, a law taxing all currency except 
national bank notes put an end to currency issued by state 
banks. 

336. Union Armies, East and West. (1863.) — It was evident 
at the close of the year 1863 that success was on the side of 



308 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



the Union. In spite of the bravery and endurance of the 
Confederates, they had steadily lost almost everywhere except 
in Virginia. Even Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania resulted 
disastrously. At first sight it seems strange that there should 




Lynchburg 



O 10 20 30 40 60 



CAMPAIGNS IN VIRGINIA. 



be such a difference in the success of the Federal armies of the. 
East and those of the West, but there were good reasons 
for it. In the first place, the physical features of the coun- 



REASONS FOR UNION SUCCESS. 309 

try were different. In the West the river-courses are mostly 
north and south, just the direction needed for invading the 
southern states ; and so far from being obstacles, they offered 
a natural way of approach. In the East the river-coui-ses 
run southeast and northwest ; and so, in order to attack Rich- 
mond, they would have to be crossed. In the short distance 
which intervened between Washington and the capital of 
the Confederacy there are a dozen or more streams, not 
large ones, but such as are liable to rise rapidly after rains, 
— thus admirably fitted to aid a defensive army, and at 
the same time seriously to interfere with an attacking one. 
Besides, the soil in eastern Virginia is clay, and much of 
the country is swamp. There are also many plantations of 
scrubby and rough woodland, all of which render successful 
military advance movements exceedingly difficult. It was 
mainly on account of these reasons that McClellan when in 
command had determined upon the Peninsular^ campaign. 
Had he been more rapid in his movements, it is not unlikely 
that he would have been successful in taking Richmond, and 
the whole history of the war been changed. But perhaps 
a more important reason for the greater success of the 
western armies was the fact that their generals were left to 
use their own judgment far more than were their comrades 
of the Army of the Potomac. 

1 See Sect. 315. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

CIVIL WAR CONTINUED. 
REFERENCES. 

Note. — See references for Chap. xv. 

General. — John C. Ropes, The Story of the Civil War ; Bryant and Gay, 
Popular History of the United States, iv. 569-600 ; James G. Blaine, Twenty 
Years of Congress, i. 488-549; Horace Greeley, The American Conflict, ii. 
528-759; W. Wilson, Division and Reunion (Epochs of American History), 
pp. 233-252 ; E. Channing, The United States, pp. 289-300 ; John J. Nicolay 
and John Hay, Abraham Lincoln, vols, viii.-x. ; Goldwin Smith, The United 
States, pp. 274-298 ; Alex. H. Stephens, The War between the States, ii. 576- 
630 ; Jefferson Davis, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, ii. 
515-717 ; E. A. Pollard, The Lost Cause, pp. 588-729. 

Biographies. — H. McCulloch, Men and Manners of Half a Century; 
Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography. 

Special. — Appleton's Annual Cyclopsedia, 1863-1865; A. Johnston, 
American Politics, Chap. xx. ; A. Johnston, American Orations, iii. 198-268 ; 
E. McPherson, Political History of the Rebellion ; E. Stanwood, History 
of Presidential Elections, Chap. xxi. ; James Russell Lowell, Political Essays, 
pp. 118-176. Lincoln's Second Inaugural : Appendix iv. to this volume ; Old 
South Leaflets, No. 11. G. W. Nichols, Story of the Great March; St. 
Nicholas, xiv. 533 ff. The Confederate Cruisers : J. R. Soley, The Blockade 
and the Cruisers ; J. Bigelow, France and the Confederate Navy. Fall of 
Richmond : Harper's Monthly, xxxiii. 92. Appomattox : U. S. Grant, Per- 
sonal Memoirs, ii. 483-498. A. Lincoln : C. Schurz, Atlantic Monthly, Ixvii. 
721. Assassination of Lincoln : Century Magazine, xxxix, 428. R. E. Lee: 
Century Magazine, xxxviii. 271. Sanitary and Christian Commissions: 
C. J. Stille, History of the Sanitary Commission ; H. Greeley, The American 
Conflict, ii. 760 ; Mary A. Livermore, My Story of the Civil War. 

310 



GRANT AT THE HEAD OF THE ARMIES. 



311 



337. Grant placed at the Head of the Armies ; Sherman. 
(1864.) — The war had now gone on for two years and a 
half. The South was rapidly using up her resources and 
was suffering from lack of men and supplies. But there 
were not a few in the North who did not see this, who were 
tired of the war, and did not hesitate to say so. Moreover, 
it was getting near the time for the Presidential election, 
and unless there should be some signal success, the war 
party feared that Lincoln might not be re-elected, and that a 
compromise might be made with the South. It Avas evident 
that a single head for all the armies in the field was needed, 
a man who should be responsible for the whole plan of opera- 
tions everywhere. Accord- 
ingly. Congress revived the 
rank of lieutenant-general, 
which had previously been 
held only by Washington and 
Scott. Lincoln at once be- 
stowed it upon the man whom 
public opinion, as well as mili- 
tary judgment, pointed out as 
fitted to receive it, and for 
whom the rank was really 
created. General Ulysses S. 
Grant. This was on March 3, 
1864. At once the wisdom of 
the step was made manifest. 

A plan of connected action was arranged. Grant came 
East and made his headquarters with the Army of the 
Potomac, Meade carrying out his orders. In the West 
the most important movements were entrusted to General 
Sherman. William Tecumseh Sherman was born in Ohio, 
1820. Educated at West Point, b^ served in the Mexicaa 




WILLIAM T. SHERMAN. 



312 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

War, and then entered mercantile life. Entering the service 
again in May, 1861, he was promoted to a major-generalship.^ 

338. Grant's Plan of Attack. (1864.) — Grant determined 
to approach Richmond by the direct route, and when all 
was ready he telegraphed to Sherman to begin his part of 
the plan of united action. This plan, briefly, was that, while 
the Army of the Potomac was to attack Richmond, Sherman 
should move southeastward from Chattanooga towards the 
sea, thus penetrating the very heart of the Confederacy, and 
so engaging the Confederate forces in that part of the 
country that no reinforcements nor supplies could be sent to 
Lee and his army. The part of the South to be invaded had 
been entirely free from the actual presence of armies. It 
was now to experience in a marked* degree many of the 
harshest of war measures. Grant and Sherman were con- 
vinced that the Confederacy was a hollow shell, and that 
vigorous measures could make it collapse. The march was 
begun simultaneously by Grant and Sherman May 5, 1864. 
They had the ablest generals of the Confederacy to contend 
with, — Robert E. Lee and Joseph E. Johnston. 

339. "On to Richmond"; Early's Raid. (1864.) — Grant, with 
an army of 120,000 men, nearly double that of Lee, started 
to attempt what had been the ruin of brave men before him, 
a Virginia campaign. The Union forces entered the rough 
country near the Rapidan, known as the '' Wilderness," and 
Lee's 62,000 men were quite a match for Grant's larger num- 

1 When Grant resigned the generalship of the army upon becoming Pres- 
ident, Sherman succeeded him, holding the office until his retirement in 
1883 on full pay, having reached the age of sixty-three. He was a thorough 
soldier, and war with him meant war indeed. He himself is reported to 
have said, "War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it." He died in New 
York City, 1891. 



ON TO RICHMOND; EARLY'S RAID. 313 

ber. For two weeks there was a terrible struggle, and fight- 
ing occurred almost every day, with a fearful loss of life. 
Gradually Lee was forced to move back his lines until Grant 
reached Cold Harbor, about eight miles from Richmond. A 
brave but fruitless attack upon Lee's works, in which it is said 
that 8000 men were shot down in half an hour, convinced 
Grant that it was useless to attempt to take Richmond from 
the north. Altogether he had lost in a campaign of a month 
nearly 60,000 men, and his antagonist half as many. He 
now determined to cross the James River and attack from 
the south, hoping also to cut off the railroads which brought 
supplies from the southern states to Lee's army and to Rich- 
mond. Lee resolved to try the plan which had been so suc- 
cessful when McClellan had been in command of the Army 
of the Potomac, and so sent Early down the Shenandoah 
valley. Early succeeded in badly scaring the authorities 
at Washington, and justly so; for, at Monocacy in Mary- 
land, he defeated General Lew Wallace, who courageously 
faced certain defeat in order to delay Early, a matter of the 
highest importance. Early then pushed on towards Washing- 
ton and actually appeared before the defences on the north 
side of the city, which he might possibly have carried at first 
had he known how poorly they were manned ; he, however, 
retreated, having captured much during his expedition. One 
incident of the raid was the taking of Chambersburg, Penn- 
sylvania, by one of his commanders, and, on the refusal of 
the inhabitants to pay $100,000 in gold or |500,000 in 
'^ greenbacks," burning the greater part of the town. 

340. Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley ; Petersburg. (1864.) 

— After the battle of the " Wilderness," Lee is reported to 
have said : '' At last the Army of the Potomac has a head." 
Grant, though he sent reinforcements to Washington, was in 



314 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

no way diverted from his main purpose. But to prevent the 
occurrence of another raid, he sent General Philip H. Sheri- 
dan into the Shenandoah valley and put him in command of 
the department. 

Sheridan was only thirty-foilr years old, but had shown 
great ability, and was, perhaps, the best cavalry officer in the 
Federal army. It was soon apparent that the fertile valley was 
to have a sadder experience than it had yet known. Grant's 
orders were that " nothing should be left to invite the enemy 
to return. Take all provisions, forage, and stock wanted for 
the use of your command. Such as cannot be consumed, 
destroy." The order was thoroughly carried out. Sheridan 
says in his report, " I have destroyed over two thousand barns 
tilled with wheat, hay, and farming implements ; over seventy 
mills filled with flour and wheat ; have driven in front of the 
army over four thousand head of stock ; and have killed and 
issued to the troops not less than three thousand sheep." It 
was also found that Sheridan was an abler general than his 
predecessors, and Early was so completely worsted that there 
were no more " valley raids." The Confederates could not 
spare men to make another attempt, and the country was so 
thoroughly ravaged that there was little to invite invasion. 

Grant's movements brought him in front of Petersburg, 
Virginia, and one of the plans of the campaign was to under- 
mine the fortifications and blow them up, thus making a way to 
enter that city. The mining operation was a success, but the 
attack was a failure, resulting in a terrible loss of life. Grant, 
however, succeeded in cutting one of the railroads supplying 
Lee, and thus greatly inconvenienced him. For the rest of 
the year there was no general engagement ; the two armies 
continued to watch each other. Grant attacking every now 
and then, and keeping Lee so busy in defending his long line 
of intrenchments that he was unable to send any reinforce- 



SHERMAN TAKES ATLANTA. 315 

merits, even temporarily, to other parts of the South. The 
resources of the Confederacy were daily getting less, and it 
was impossible for Lee to get recruits to fill his ranks, while 
Grant's resources of men and supplies were abundant. The 
courage and energy shown by Lee and his army in thus fight- 
ing a daily losing game were wonderful. 

341. Sherman takes Atlanta ; Nashville. (1864.) — Sherman, 
meanwhile, was performing his part of the plan (sect. 338). 
Johnston was slowly forced to retreat until he reached 
Atlanta, Georgia. Several battles were fought, but Sherman 
kept on. Johnston was only waiting until he got Sherman 
far enough from his base of supplies to offer battle under 
circumstances which would be unfavorable to the Union 
army. Sherman's supplies were brought by a single railroad 
which he had to defend, and thus the farther he advanced 
the weaker was his force. Just at this time the Confederate 
President, partly in answer to the complaints of the people 
against Johnston's slowness, removed Johnston, replacing 
him by General J. B. Hood, who had the reputation of being 
one of the hardest fighters in the Confederate army. The 
change was a good one for the Union army, which had been 
able to make but little headway against the cautious policy 
of Johnston. It was not long before Sherman succeeded in 
taking Atlanta (September 2). Here every thiug which 
would be likely to aid an enemy, such as iron foundries, 
manufactories, and mills, were destroyed. All tliis Avas a 
great blow to the Confederacy. In the hope of checking 
Sherman's further advance, the Confederate government 
ordered Hood to leave Georgia and march towards Nashville, 
Tennessee, where General George H. Thomas was in com- 
mand of the Union army. It was hoped that this move would 
cause Sherman to follow Hood, and that two things would 



316 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

be brought about : the destruction of the Union forces, and 
the removal of the seat of war again to Tennessee. But 
Sherman believed that Thomas could take care of himself, 
and so, after following Hood for some distance, he came back 
to Atlanta. 

Hood, meantime, pressed on towards Nashville ; and after 
a severe Rattle with one of the divisions of the Union army, 
besieged the whole of Thomas's army in the cit}-. The Union 
general was so slow in attacking the Confederate forces that 
the patience of the authoiities at Washington was almost 
exhausted, and he was on the point of being relieved of his 
command, when, being satisfied that all was ready, he 
sallied forth, attacked Hood's army, and completely routed 
it (December 15, 16, 1864). So thoroughly was this done 
that it was never reorganized again. This was an irretrieva- 
ble loss to the South. 

342. Sherman begins his March. (1864.) — When Sherman 
returned to Atlanta, after his feigned pursuit of Hood, he 
found himself with no Confederate forces of any strength 
between him and the sea, nor indeed between him and Vir- 
ginia. There was now the opportunity to carry out a plan 
he had formed of marching through Georgia to Savannah, 
thence to the rear of Lee's army in Virginia, which, thus 
attacked front and rear, would be compelled to surrender. 
As it would be practically impossible to move with the 
quickness required for success, and depend at the same time 
upon supplies from the North, he resolved to live off the 
country he passed through. And so, taking with him in his 
wagons only ten days' provisions, dismissing every weak man, 
and leaving behind everything which could possibly be spared, 
with 60,000 troops, on the 15th of November, 1864, he left 
Atlanta to begin his march to the sea. He cut the telegrapli 



MARCH THROUGH GEORGIA. 317 

wires to the north, tore up the tracks, and burnt down the 
bridges so that no intelligence of his movements or means 
of approach would be left for Hood to take advantage of in 
case of his success in encountering Thomas. For nearly six 
weeks nothing was heard of Sherman or his army. 

343. March through Georgia. (1864.) — The route was 
southeast ; the orders were to advance " wherever practi- 
cable, by four roads, as nearly parallel as possible. . . . The 
army will forage liberally on the country during the march; 
to this end each brigade commander will organize a good 
and sufficient foraging party, who will gather corn or forage 
of any kind, meat of any kind, vegetables, corn meal, or 
whatever is needed by the command, aiming all the time to 
keep in the wagons at least ten days' provisions. Soldiers 
must not enter dwellings or commit any trespass ; but during 
a halt or camp, they may be permitted to gather turnips, 
potatoes, or other vegetables, and to drive in stock in sight 
of their camp. To corps commanders alone is entrusted the 
power to destroy mills, houses, cotton-gins, etc. Where tffe 
army is unmolested, no destruction of such property should 
be permitted ; but should guerillas or bushwackers molest 
our march, or should the inhabitants burn bridges, or obstruct 
roads, or otherwise manifest local hostilities, then army com- 
manders should order and enforce a devastation more or less 
relentless, according to the measure of such hostility. As 
for horses, mules, wagons, etc., belonging to the inhabitants, 
the cavalry and artillery may appropriate freely and without 
limit, discriminating, however, between the rich, who are 
usually hostile, and the poor and industrious, who are usu- 
ally neutral and friendly. In all foraging the parties engaged 
will endeavor to leave with each family a reasonable portion 
for maintenance." 



318 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

344. Savannah abandoned. (1864.) — Such was part of the 
general order issued by Sherman to his army at the begin- 
ning of the enterprise. Its restrictions were carried out as 
far as practicable ; but war is war, and the path of the army, 
sixty miles wide and three hundred miles in length, was as 
the track of a tornado or of an army of locusts. Railroads 
were rendered useless by tearing up the rails, heating them 
and twisting them like a corkscrew so they could be of no 
further use as rails ; bridges were burnt, buildings demol- 
ished. In short, everything which might be of use from 
a military point of view was taken, rendered useless, or 
destroyed. There was comparatively little fighting beyond 
cavalry skirmishing until within a short distance of Savannah. 
On the 21st of December the Confederate forces evacuated 
that city, and the Union troops marched in. Sherman had 
already communicated with the Union gunboats on the river. 
This was the first news which had been heard of the army 
since it had left Atlanta. Sherman at once sent a letter to 
President Lincoln, saying, " I beg to present to you as a 
Christmas gift the city of Savannah, with 150 heavy guns 
and plenty of ammunition, also about 25,000 bales of cotton." 
This reached the President on Christmas eve. 

345. The Navy; Mobile; Confederate Cruisers. (1864.) — 
Meanwhile, the navy had not been idle. The blockade was 
maintained more closely than ever. An unsuccessful at- 
tempt was made to capture Fort Fisher, which guarded the 
entrance to Wilmington, North Carolina, a great resort for 
blockade runners. General Banks was sent with a land force, 
supported by gunboats, up the Red River of Louisiana to 
attack Shreveport and disperse a Confederate army in that 
part of the state. This expedition was also a failure. Banks 
having been defeated ^t Sabine, and Pleasant Hill. Mobile, 



CONFEDERATE CRUISERS; PEACE PARTY. 319 

Alabama, had been a place for blockade runners, and was 
also desirable as a point of attack. While the United States 
cruisers had been fairly successful in blockading the entrance 
to the bay, not a few vessels from time to time had slipped 
in ; and it was determined to storm the forts which defended 
the entrance. This enterprise was entrusted to Admiral 
Farragut, who, with fourteen wooden vessels and four moni- 
tors, forced his way past the forts and the obstructions in the 
channel into the bay where the iron-clad ram Tennessee was 
disabled and captured. She was the most formidable vessel 
the Confederates had, and was commanded by Buchanan, 
who had been commander of the Merrimac in her fight with 
the Monitor (sect. 315). Farragut had the aid of the land 
forces also, to whom the forts soon surrendered. In order to 
get a clearer view of the operations, the admiral stationed 
himself in the vessel's shrouds, to which one of the officers 
insisted on fastening him lest a sudden shock should throw 
him off, or, being Avounded, he should fall into the water. 
This was August 5, 1864. During this year the Con- 
federate ram Albemarle was destroyed in October, in the 
Roanoke River, by the means of a torpedo ; while the 
Alabama was sunk by the United States steam war vessel 
Kearsarge off Cherbourg, France, June 19 ; the G-eorgia was 
captured off Lisbon, Portugal, in August ; and the Florida 
in the harbor of Bahia, Brazil, in October. This latter 
capture was illegal, according to international laAv; and the 
United States government ordered that the vessel should be 
returned to Bahia, but before she had actually started she 
was sunk in Chesapeake Bay. 

346. Peace Party ; Lincoln renominated. (1864.) — Notwith- 
standing the successes of the Union forces in 1863 and the 
continued non-intervention of foreign nations, there was a 
party of considerable size in the North, which was clamoring 



320 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

for peace. The war had dragged on for nearly four years, 
without any certain signs of an end ; taxes were high ; the 
expenses of keeping up the military and naval establishments 
enormous ; thousands of families had lost one or more mem- 
bers by death on the field, or in the hospital, or in southern 
prisons. The fact that over 1,000,000 new men had been 
called for duiiog the past year led many to believe that the 
Union armies had not been as successful as was reported, and 
that ultimate triumph was hopeless. Cries of a military des- 
potism were raised, and unconstitutional and arbitrary meas- 
ures were charged upon the administration. The Republican 
party had gathered to itself many who had hitherto acted with 
the Democrats, and for the time the title National Union Party 
was adopted. A convention was held at Baltimore, June 7, 
1864, and President Lincoln was renominated on the first 
ballot. Andrew Johnson, the one senator from the southern 
states which seceded who refused to act with his state, and 
who had afterwards been appointed military governor of his 
own state, Tennessee, by President Lincoln, was nominated 
for Vice-President. The platform adopted expressed confi- 
dence in the administration, approved the Emancipation 
Proclamation, the employment of colored troops, and "the 
determination of the government of the United States not to 
compromise with rebels, or to offer them any terms of peace, 
except such as may be based upon an unconditional surrender 
of their hostility and a return to their just allegiance to the 
Constitution and laws of the United States." A constitu- 
tional amendment abolishing slavery, "and the speedy con- 
struction of the railroad to the Pacific coast," were among 
the measures favored. In short, the acts of the administra- 
tion were thoroughly endorsed. 

347. Radical and Democratic Conventions. (1864.) — A week 
previous to the meeting of the Union convention, about 350 



RADICAL AND DEMOCRATIC CONVENTIONS. 321 

persons, representing those who believed that the President 
was too conservative, met at Cleveland, Ohio, and nomi- 
nated General John C. Fremont of California and John 
Cochrane of New York. Their platform in essential points 
differed little from that adopted at Baltimore, except in de- 
claring " that the confiscation of the lands of the rebels, and 
their distribution among the soldiers and actual settlers, is a 
measure of justice." The feelings of others was expressed 
by Wendell Phillips, who wrote, " The administration, there- 
fore, I regard as a civil and military failure, and its avowed 
policy ruinous to the North in every point of view." 

The Democratic convention met in Chicago, August 29, 
and nominated General George B. McClellan of New Jersey 
and George H. Pendleton of Ohio. The platform declared 
" that after four years of failure to restore the Union by the 
experiment of war . . . justice, humanity, liberty, and the 
public welfare demand that immediate efforts be made for a 
cessation of hostilities, with a view to an ultimate convention 
of the states, or other peaceable means, to the end that at 
the earliest practicable moment, peace may be restored on 
the basis of the Federal union of the states." Various acts 
of the government were declared to be " a shameful violation 
of the Constitution," and it was charged, among other things, 
"that the administrative usurpation of extraordinary and 
dangerous powers not granted by the Constitution . . . [is] 
calculated to prevent a restoration of the Union and the 
perpetuation of a government deriving its just powers from 
the consent of the governed." McClellan in his letter of 
acceptance almost repudiated the platform, and could hardly 
do otherwise, as he himself had done many of the things of 
which it specially complained. 

348. Political State of the North ; Lincoln re-elected. (1864.) 
— In September Fremont and Cochrane withdrew from the 



322 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

contest, lest a division among the Republicans might elect 
the Democratic candidate. Fremont was careful to make 
this clear in his letter by saying, " I consider his [Mr. Lin- 
coln's] administration has been politically, militarily, and 
financially a failure, and that its necessary continuance is a 
cause of regret for the countr}^" There was much to dis- 
courage tlie Union party. General Grant had been put in 
control of all the armies and had fixed his headquarters with 
the Army of the Potomac. Still, though there had been many 
battles and a terrible loss of life, many thought there had 
not been enough gained to make the capture of Richmond 
any more likely. Very many of those who would support 
the re-election of the President were in the armies, and it 
was possible that such states as New York and Pennsylvania 
might be carried by the opposition. The destruction of 
the Alabama^ the successes of Sherman in Northern Georgia, 
the ca})ture of Atlanta only a day or two after the Demo- 
cratic convention had pronounced the war a failure ; and 
besides the arrangements by which the votes of the volun- 
teer soldiers in the armies could be counted, the withdrawal 
of Fremont, the conviction of many that it would be a bad 
policy to change leaders while the war questions were unset- 
tled, and also the recognition by many of the real greatness 
of Lincoln, — all these influences combined produced such an 
effect, that at the election in November, Lincoln and Johnson 
received a popular majority of over 400,000, exclusive of the 
army vote,^ and 212 electoral votes to 21 for the Democratic 
candidates. Every state not in the Confederacy had given 
its vote to Lincoln except New Jersey, Delaware, and 
Kentucky, 

1 The majority for Lincoln in the army vote was over 80,000, which 
brought u^; his majority to nearly 500,000. 



ADMISSION OF WEST VIRGINIA AND NEVADA. 323 

349. Admission of West Virginia and Nevada. (1863, 1864.) 

— In 1863, forty-eight of the western counties of Virginia, 
whose inhabitants objected to being carried into secession, 
were admitted into the Union as the state of West Virginia. 
There were few slaves in tliese counties, and the interests of 
the people were mining and manufacturing rather than agri- 
cultural. The Constitution (Art. IV., sect. 3) requires the 
consent of the legislature of the state concerned if a new 
state is to be formed within its jurisdiction; and Congress 
practically decided that the state of Virginia consisted of the 
part under the control of that government which was in sym- 
pathy with the United States authority ; so the people of 
what is now West Virginia did little more than ask their 
own consent. In October, 1864, the territory of Nevada, with 
the addition of a small part of Arizona, was admitted as a 
state. Almost the only large interest in this state is that of 
mining silver, and subsequent events show it would have 
been wiser to delay admission to the Union, but the enormous 
output of the mines, it was expected, would attract many 
settlers, and this expectation and supposed political expe- 
diency carried the day.^ 

350. Charleston taken ; Sherman marches Northward. (1865.) 

— Sherman with his veteran troops left Savannah (sect. 344) 
February 1, 1865, on his northern march. Owing to the 
numerous rivers and the many swamps along the coast, he 
struck directly for Columbia, South Carolina. On the 17th 
he entered the city, and a large part of it was burnt. 

1 Nevada has an experience, unique among the states of the Union, of 
suffering a loss in her population. This in 1870 was 42,491 ; in 1880, 62,266 ; 
in 1890, 45,761. This loss is due to the decline in mining interests, resulting 
in part from the failure of many mines and from the unprofitableness and 
difficulty of working mines at great depths. If this decline should be con- 
tinued, an interesting question will be presented to the country for solution. 



324 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Whether the fires were started by the Confederate troops 
as they went out of the town, or by the Union troops as they 
came in, has never been shown. Each side charged the other 
with the action. Simultaneously with the taking of Colum- 
bia, Charleston was evacuated by the Confederates, and the 
Union troops took possession. Other Confederate garrisons 
followed this example, and the troops thus gathered together, 
with the remnant of Hood's army (sect. 341) were, in answer 
to public demand at the South, placed under the leadership 
of General Joseph E. Johnston. Sherman's northward march 
was in reality much more hazardous than that through 
Georgia. Tlie country was more difficult to march through, 
supplies were less sure, and above all there was an opposing 
general, who, if not strong enough to risk an open battle, 
was quite strong enough to make the advance in the highest 
degree dangerous, and who was ever on the alert to take 
advantage of the slightest error which his antagonist might 
commit. By the time Sherman approached Goldsboro, North 
Carolina, Johnston felt able to risk an attack which was 
made with great vigor ; he was, however, repelled, and 
Sherman reached Goldsboro, where he received reinforce- 
ments by way of Wilmington, which had fallen into Union 
hands in January. Both armies now halted, waiting for 
further developments in Virginia. 

351. Chief Justice Chase ; Peace Negotiations. (1864, 1865.) 
— In June, 1864, Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury, 
resigned, and W. P. Fessenden was appointed to fill his place. 
In October of the same year Chief Justice Taney died, and 
President Lincoln nominated Ex-Secretary Chase as Chief 
Justice of the Supreme Court, and he was confirmed by the 
Senate. During 1864 and the early part of 1865 there had 
been several informal attempts both North and South to 



PEACE NEGOTIATIONS; SHERIDAN'S RAID. 325 

bring about a cessation of hostilities which might lead to 
peace. The most important of these was in February, 1865, 
when Alexander H. Stephens, the Vice-President of the Con- 
federate States, and two companions, by previous arrange- 
ment, met President Lincoln and Secretary Seward on board 
a steamer in Hampton Roads and had a full, intelligent, and 
amicable discussion of the state of affairs. But as President 
Lincoln refused to negotiate except upon the basis of the 
disbandment of the Confederate forces, the restoration of the 
national authority, and the acknowledgment of the abolition 
of slavery, the conference came to nothing. During the con- 
versation Stephens attempted to show that Lincoln would be 
justified in making terms with " rebels " by referring to the 
case of Charles I. of England. To this Lincoln replied, "I 
am not strong on history ; I depend mainly on .Secretary 
Seward for that. All I remember of Charles is that he lost 
his head." 

352. Sheridan's Raid ; Petersburg -; Richmond taken ; Lee sur- 
renders. (1865.) — In February, Wilmington, N.C., was taken, 
and the Confederacy was without a port. In February and 
March, Sheridan, at the head of his cavalry, made a raid down 
the Shenandoah valley to Staunton, cutting the railroads upon 
which Lee largely depended for his supplies. He then, after 
joining Grant, was sent by him to the southwest of Peters- 
burg. Sharp battles were fought with the result that Lee 
was unable to hold Petersburg, so he sent a telegram to 
President Davis on the 2d of April that it was necessary 
to evacuate both that city and Richmond at once. The mes- 
sage reached Davis while in his place of worship, for it was 
Sunday. He immediately arose and left the building. The 
preparations for evacuation soon* told the inhabitants what 
was coming, and directly there was the greatest confusion. 



326 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The naval rams in the river were blown up, the tobacco 
warehouses set on fire, barrels of liquor were knocked in the 
head and their contents poured into the gutters as a precau- 
tion. Some soldiers, getting drunk from the liquor scooped 
up, began pillaging, which was joined in by others. Early 
in the morning of the 3d, General Weitzel, learning through 
a captured negro that the Confederates were evacuating Rich- 
mond, advanced, entered the city with his troops, and Rich- 
mond was taken at last. Six days after (April 9), Lee 
surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Grant at 
Appomattox Court House, seventy-five miles west of Rich- 
mond, whither he had retreated after evacuating Richmond 
and Petersburg. Grant's terms were most liberal. The 
Confederate troops were to lay down their arms, return to 
their hon:\^s, and agree not to fight against the United States ; 
he also let them have their horses, as they would " need them 
for the spring ploughing." 

353. Lincoln assassinated ; his Greatness. (1865.) — The 
capture of Richmond and the surrender of Lee's army was 
felt to be the end of the struggle. Lincoln himself visited 
Richmond the day after the capture, and walked through its 
streets. The rejoicing in the North over the successes had 
not ended, when the whole country, North and South, was 
horrified by the news of the assassination of President Lin- 
coln at Ford's Theatre, AYashington, on the evening of April 
14, b}^ John Wilkes Booth. The crime seems to have been 
the work of a southern fanatic filled Avith a half-crazy idea 
of vengeance, joined with a desire for notoriety. Secretary 
Seward was also attacked by another conspirator, but, though 
severely wounded, recovered.^ 

1 Booth escaped, but was pursued, and finally shot by one of his pursuers. 
A number of the conspirators were captured, tried, and convicted, some on 




ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN 1865. 



ANDREW JOHNSON BECOMES PRESIDENT. 327 

It was not until after the death of President Lincoln that 
the people of the country realized how much they loved him, 
and how much they had learned to rely upon liis kindliness 
and judgment. No vindictiveness had ever been apparent in 
his words or actions ; and the southern people mourned him 
as well as the 23eople of the North, for they felt they had lost 
one who would have been their friend. His real statesman- 
ship received a tardy recognition ; and now that they can be 
read calmly, his state papers are seen to be almost unsur- 
passed for clearness of meaning and vigor of style. His 
address at Gettysburg and his second inaugural are models 
of English. (Appendix iv.) 

354. Andrew Johnson becomes President; Moral Effects of 
the War. (1865.) — A few hours after the death of Lincoln, 
Chief Justice Chase administered the oath to the Vice-Presi- 
dent, Andrew Johnson, who thus at once assumed the position 
and duties of President in accordance with the constitutional 
provision. On the 26th of April Johnston surrendered his 
army to Sherman. On the 10th of May Jefferson Davis ^ was 
captured in Georgia, and shortly after the Confederate forces 
one after another laid down their arms.^ 

On the 22d of May the President issued a proclamation, 
raising the blockade except for the ports of Texas. These 
were opened a month later. On the 23d and 24th of May 

rather slender evidence. Four were hanged, and four sentenced to long 
terms of imprisonment. 

1 Davis was first taken to Savannah, and thence to Fortress Monroe, 
where he was kept in imprisonment about two years. He was then released 
on bail, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Horace Greeley, and Gerrit Smith becoming 
his bondsmen. He was never brought to trial. He died in New Orleans, 
December 6, 1889. 

2 The last engagement was on the banks of the Rio Grande (May 12), and 
was a success for the Confederates. 



328 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the armies of Grant and of Sherman were reviewed in Wash- 
ington by the President and the Cabinet, before being dis- 
banded and sent home. The column of soldiers was over 
thirty miles long, and was a sight the like of which had 
never before been seen in the United States, and it is to be 
hoped never will be seen again. In a short time all the 
troops were disbanded except about 50,000, which were con- 
sidered necessary to keep order. In all, about 1,000,000 men 
were sent back to their homes in the North, and about 200,000 
in the South. Never had such large forces been returned to 
civil life with so little exhibition of lawlessness. Nor was 
there the slightest desire for anything like military rule. 
This was a great triumph for republican principles ; and yet 
there is no doubt that in many ways the moral tone of the 
whole country was lowered, a logical result of all war, which 
must beget in most minds a disregard for the rights of others 
and for the value of human life. Many of the moral effects 
did not show themselves at once, but were seen later on. 
The same was true of the social and economic effects. The 
whole nation had become accustomed to large enterprises, and 
enormous financial operations by the government ; and this 
may partly account for the willingness to continue to make 
large outlays of public money after the war had ended, and 
also for that spirit of speculation and expansion in business 
which helped to bring about the crisis of 1873 (sect. 375). 

355. Losses from the War. (1865.) — Of the losses which 
can be estimated, the total is appalling. The loss of life in 
battle, from wounds, and from disease is thought to have 
been about equal on each side, and to have amounted to 
nearly 600,000 in all. The loss resulting from several hun- 
dred thousand men permanently disabled cannot be estimated. 
B^sid^s this the United States government had piled up a vast 



SANITARY AND CHRISTIAN COMMISSIONS. 329 

debt, the interest and principal of which were to be a heavy 
burden for years. ^ The cost to the South cannot be told. 
The South would count the value of the slaves, estimated to 
be 12,000,000,000 ; then property destroyed by both armies ; 
then the actual expenditures by the individual states and by 
the Confederate government. All the southern notes and 
bonds, having been repudiated and rendered absolutely void, 
were a total loss, as well as all the state, county, and city 
loans issued in aid of the Confederate armies.^ A careful 
writer says, '' Altogether, while the cost of the war cannot 
exactly be calculated, $8,000,000,000 is a moderate estimate." 

356. Sanitary and Christian Commissions ; Effect of the War. 
(1865.) — Soon after the beginning of the war the accounts 
of the sufferings of the wounded and of the needs of the 
soldiers on the field and in the hospital led to the establish- 
ment, in the North, of the Sanitary and of the Christian 
Commissions. The former had its corps of officers, nurses, 
physicians, and attendants, whose duty was to look after the 
suffering, the wounded, and the needy. It had hospitals, 
hospital cars, and hospital boats. Its litters and ambulances 
were on the field before the battle was over, to care for those 
who needed help. Through it were distributed vast quanti- 
ties of clothing, stores, and various comforts which had been 
prepared in northern homes. Millions of dollars to carry on 
this work were raised by private subscriptions and by means 
of "Sanitary Fairs," which were held all over the North. 

1 The debt reached its highest point August 31, 1865, when it amounted 
to $2,845,907,626.26. This inchided the "greenbacks," on which no interest 
is paid. Nearly $800,000,000 of revenue had also been spent ; and the cities, 
towns, counties, and states had also expended much in cash beside incurring 
debts. The payment for pensions is already without precedent, and the 
aggregate will be something enormous. 

2 See Amendment XIV. to the Constitution. 



330 HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. 

The Christian Commission was organized to look after the 
moral and religious needs of the soldier, and co-operated with 
the Sanitary Commission. Never before had such great efforts 
been made to mitigate the sufferings incident to war. 

The South was able to do very much less for her soldiers 
than the North, owing to the lack of resources. 

The war settled at least two things : (1) That slavery was 
forever abolished ; this was a result anticipated by very few ; 
(2) that no state could leave the Union ; that, in the words 
of Chief Justice Chase, the " Constitution looked to an inde- 
structible union of indestructible states." The effect abroad 
was to increase greatly the respect in which the United States 
was held by foreign nations, and to strengthen the cause of 
republicanism everywhere. It was shown by both North and 
South that loyalty is as strong in a republic as in a monarchy. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

RECONSTRUCTION. 
REFERENCES. 

General. — James G. Blaine, Twenty Years of Congress, i. 549-605, ii. 
1-502 ; A. W. Young, The American Statesman, pp. 1211-1426 ; W. AVilson, 
Division and Reunion (Epochs of American History), pp. 253-272; A. H. 
Stephens, The War between the States, ii. 631-670 ; Jefferson Davis, The 
Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, ii. 717-764 ; Gold win Smith, 
The United States, 298-301. 

Biographies. — See references for two preceding chapters. 

Special. — Alex. Johnston, American Politics, Chaps, xxi., xxii. ; E. Stan- 
wood, History of Presidential Elections, Chap. xxii. ; Appleton's Annual 
Cyclopaedia, 1865-1871 ; E. McPherson, Political History of Reconstruction ; 
J. J. Lalor, Cyclopaedia, iii. 540-556 ; James Russell Lowell, Political Essays, 
pp. 177-294; A. Johnston, American Orations, iii. 249-282 ; Kuklux Klan : 
Century Magazine, xxviii. 398, 461 ; J. J. Lalor, Cyclopaedia, ii. 680-682. 
Alaska : Century Magazine, xxiv. 323 ; xxx. 738, 819 ; xxxix. 902. Atlantic 
Cable: H. M. Field, Story of the Atlantic Telegraph (Revised edition). 

357. Andrew Johnson. (1865.) — Andrew Johnson Avas a 
man of strong will, of decided convictions, and of much 
natural ability. He was born in North Carolina in 1808, and 
removed to Tennessee in early manhood. His parents were 
very poor, and his early education was extremely limited ; in 
fact, it is said that he learned to read and write after he was 
married. He joined a debating society, accustomed himself 
to speaking, and soon was elected to the office of an alder- 
man. He filled other offices in succession ; and when Presi- 
dent, he was fond of saying that he had filled every political 
office in the gift of his countrymen, a statement which was 

331 



332 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

perfectly true and much to his credit. Up to 1861 he was a 
loyal Democrat, supporting the party in all its policy. He 
was a strong Unionist, and was, as has been said, the only 
southern senator who refused to follow his state. He was 
again elected senator after leaving the Presidency, and died 
while holding that position, in 1875. He was pleased to be 
thought to resemble Andrew Jackson, and evidently took him 
as a model. Coming directly after Lincoln, and being placed 
in an extraordinarily difficult position, he was harshly judged 
by his contemporaries, though it must be said that his unyield- 
ing temper had much to do with 
provoking opposition. The Re- 
publicans soon repented their 
choice of him as much as the 
Whigs had done that of Tyler. 

Congress having adjourned in 
March until December, the Presi- 
dent made the most of his op- 
portunity. The condition of the 
South demanded some sort of gov- 

ANDREW JOHNSON. _ 

ernment at once ; J ohnson ap- 
pointed provisional governors who were to reorganize the 
states as soon as practicable. He believed that individuals 
should be punished, but the idea that a state should be 
kept from exercising any of its functions was contrary 
to his whole bringing up. He accordingly issued procla- 
mations of amnesty to almost every one who had been 
engaged in the conflict on condition of taking an oath " faith- 
fully to support, protect, and defend the Constitution and 
the Union " ; he restored the writ of habeas corpus every- 
where in the North; and in general tried to restore every- 
thing except slavery to the condition of affairs before the 
war. 




PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT IN THE SOUTH. 333 

358. Provisional Government in the South. (1865.) — The 

provisional governors called conventions which were elected 
by white voters. These conventions repealed the ordinances 
of secession ; ratified the thirteenth amendment to the Con- 
stitution abolishing slavery, which had been proposed by 
the Congress early in the year, but not yet ratified by the 
states; and passed resolutions declaring that no debts in- 
curred in supporting the Confederacy should be paid. The 
state governments were also recognized. In the President's 
view, nothing more was necessary to enable the states to send 
senators and representatives to Congress. When that body 
met in December, it viewed the matter in a very different 
light. It felt bound to protect the freedmen, as the former 
slaves were now called, and it was believed to be the inten- 
tion of the southern legislatures to keep them in a condition 
of virtual slavery. While these facts may not justify the laws, 
they serve to explain their enactment. Congress accordingly 
refused to admit the senators and representatives, claiming 
that with it alone rested the power to decide when the states 
should be admitted to a representation in Congress (Consti- 
tution, Art. I., sect. 5). It must be remembered, however, 
that the southern whites had reason to believe that the freed 
slaves would be an idle, shiftless class, and were also natu- 
rally unwilling that they should be placed upon an equality 
with themselves. 

359. Thirteenth Amendment; the President and Congress. 
(1865.) — The thirteenth amendment, having been ratified by 
the requisite number of states, became a part of the Consti- 
tution in December, 1865. This action did for the whole 
country what the Emancipation Proclamation had previously 
done for a part. It also confirmed the effects of that docu- 
ment and made them secure. The language of the amend- 



334 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

ment is taken almost without a change from the Ordinance 
of 1787 (sect. 154). Maryland had, in October, 1864, by a 
small majority, adopted a new constitution which abolished 
slavery within her limits. Thus, after nearly a century, the 
United States became what Washington, Jefferson, Adams, 
Franklin, and others of the early days had longed that she 
might be, — a free country. 

From this time the President and Congress were continu- 
ally in conflict. Owing to the non-admission of the south- 
ern members, the Republicans had a full two-thirds majority 
in both houses, and so were able to pass any measure which 
they desired over the .President's veto (Constitution, Art. I., 
sect. 7). In this way the Civil Rights Bill, giving the 
freedmen the rights of citizens of the United States, was 
passed, though it did not give the right of suffrage, for then 
this matter was wholly within the authority of the states. 
Congress also, in order to make the provisions of the Civil 
Rights Bill permanent, proposed the fourteenth amendment 
to the Constitution. It also passed over the President's veto 
the Freedmen's Bureau Bill, providing for the interests of 
the freed slaves in many ways. All this greatly irritated the 
President, Avho, foolishly in his turn, irritated Congress by 
calling it " No Congress." Congress revived the grade of 
general in the army, and Grant was promoted to that rank. 

360. Reconstruction Acts. (1867.) — The result of the 
elections was to encourage Congress in the course upon 
which it had entered, for it became certain that the new 
Congress would have a two-thirds majority in opposition to 
the President. Accordingly a bill was passed, one of the pro- 
visions of which practically took from him the command of the 
army by requiring him to issue his orders through the gen- 
eral of the army, who could not be removed without the 



RECONSTRUCTION; SIX STATES ADMITTED. 335 

consent of the Senate. The subsequent legislation of the 
Congress aimed to secure the suffrage of the negro and dis- 
franchisement of the former southern leaders. In order to 
bring about this end various measures were passed, in 1867, 
called Reconstruction Acts. They provided first for the 
military government of the seceded states except Tennessee, 
which had been admitted to a representation in Congress in 
1866. Again, each state was to remain under this military 
government until a convention chosen by voters, without 
regard to race or color, should frame a nev*^ government, 
acknowledging the fourteenth amendment to the Constitu- 
tion. The old Confederate leaders were debarred from vot- 
ing for these conventions, or taking any part in them, and of 
course the adoption of the amendment would permanently 
disqualify them for holding public office of any kind unless 
by special action of Congress these disqualifications should 
be removed. (Appendix III., Constitution, Amend. XIV.) 

361. Six States admitted; "Carpet-Baggers." (1868.) — 

Six of the states, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, 
North Carolina, South Carolina, agreed to these conditions, 
and their delegations to Congress were admitted in June, 
1868. The other four states declined to assent. The result 
in the assenting states was quite different from what had 
been hoped. In several of them the freed slaves were in the 
majority, and they were extremely ignorant, yet to them was 
committed the government of the states, the enactment of 
laws, and other important matters wath which they Avere 
totally incompetent to deal. The natural result followed, — 
they were made tools of by unscrupulous men, many of Avhom 
came from other states with so little property with them 
that it was said it could all be put in a carpet-bag. Hence 
they were called "carpet-baggers." Between these "car- 



336 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

pet-baggers " and the ignorant negroes the southern states 
fared badly, for money was squandered lavishly, and much 
that should have gone for public uses went into private 
pockets. This period in the South was a most unfortunate 
one. But neither North nor South was wholly to blame 
for it. The North acted with much ignorance of the real 
situation ; while the South was naturally reluctant to accept 
the results of the war. 

362. Tenure of Office Act; the President impeached. (1867, 
1868.) — Since the adoption of the Constitution it had been 
the practice of the Presidents to remove subordinates When 
occasion seemed to demand it. Now Congress feared that 
President Johnson miglit, by removal of officers of the gov- 
ernment who differed with him in politics, impede if not 
render useless the acts which had been passed. So the 
Tenure of Office Act was passed to prevent this. By this 
act, which the President vetoed as unconstitutional, but 
which was passed over his veto March 2, 1867, no officer for 
whose appointment the consent of the Senate was needful 
could be removed without the consent of that body. Tliis 
sweeping measure naturally roused the ire of the President, 
and he resolved to ignore the act. He consequently asked 
Secretary Stanton (May 5) to resign ; upon his refusal, he 
removed him. At the next session of Congress the Senate re- 
fused to confirm this action, so Stanton again took possession 
of his office, but the President ordered Lorenzo Thomas, whom 
he had appointed in his place, to resume the duties of his 
office. For this action mainl}", though other points were men- 
tioned in the indictment, the House of Representatives im- 
peached President Johnson. According to the provisions of 
the Constitution, he was tried by the Senate, Chief Justice 
Chase presiding (Art. I. ii. 5 ; iii. 6). After a trial lasting 



GRANT AND COLFAX. 337 

from March 5 to May 16, 1868, he was acquitted, those voting 
guilty being one less in number than the two-thirds necessary 
for conviction. This has been the only instance of impeach- 
ment of a President, and many even of those politically op- 
posed to Johnson thought the measure unwise. 

363. Grant and Colfax elected; Amnesty. (1868.) — The 
time had again come to nominate a candidate for the 
Presidency. The Republican convention, justifying the acts 
of Congress, went before the country on that issue and nomi- 
nated General Grant for President and Schuyler Colfax, of 
Indiana, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, for 
Vice-President. The Democratic convention attacked the 
measures and policy of the Republicans, and demanded that 
the southern states should be restored to all their rights, and 
that the question of suffrage should be left to the individual 
states. Horatio Seymour, of New York, and Francis P. 
Blair, of Missouri, were chosen as candidates. At the elec- 
tion in November, 1868, Grant and Colfax were chosen by 
a large majority of the electoral votes, as well as of the pop- 
ular vote. Thus the voice of the people seemed to confirm 
the action of Congress, but as Grant was at this time the 
most popular man in the United States, it is likely that 
thousands voted for him, giving little attention to the politi- 
cal questions involved. 

President Johnson, on Christmas Day, 1868, issued a proc- 
lamation of ''full pardon and amnesty" to those who had 
been concerned in the " late rebellion." This did not restore 
political rights, as that had to be done by Congress. The 
thirteenth amendment to the Constitution had forbidden 
slavery ; the fourteenth had given the freedmen citizenship ; 
and now Congress proposed the fifteenth, which would give 
the freedmen the right of suffrage. 



338 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

364. Atlantic Telegraph Cable. (1866.) — Alaska bought. 
(1867.) — But political matters, though of surpassing interest, 
were not the only ones to claim the attention during President 
Johnson's administration. Cyrus W. Field, of New York, 
to whom the first Atlantic cable had been due (sect. 290), was 
by no means discouraged by its failure. He had demonstrated 
the possibility of a communication under the ocean, and so 
he set to work to remedy the defects of the earl}^ cables, and 
in the summer of 1866 the immense steamship Great Eastern^ 
with a new cable made in England on board, set sail for 
America, for the purpose of laying the cable on the way. 
This was entirely successful, and on the 27th of July the 
western end was landed at Heart's Content, Newfoundland, 
and messages were exchanged with Valentia Bay, Ireland. 
Since that time the telegraphic communication between the 
old Avorld and the new has never been interrupted. Later 
on, other cables were laid, until, in 1892, there Avere ten lines 
in operation across the North Atlantic alone. The rates of 
transmission have been so much reduced b}^ competition that 
it is within the means of almost every one to send messages, 
while the newspaper press has whole columns of news cabled 
every day. Trade has been revolutionized by the cable no 
less than by steam, as through it the market prices of the 
world are daily reported in the newspaper press. 

In 1867 the possessions of Russia in America were bought 
by the United States for 17,200,000. The territory amounted 
to about 577,390 square miles.^ It was thought by many at 
the time a very foolish enterprise, and Secretary Seward, to 
whom the purchase was largely due, was made the object of 
much ridicule and chaffing. Time has, however, abundantly 
justified his action, the rent of the seal fisheries alone being 

1 This territory differs from previous annexations in that no part of it 
touched the boundaries of the United States. 




\ TERRITORIAL^ GROWTH A 

\ OF THE 

UNITED STATES 



SCALE OF MILES 






^ lUO 200 300 




s&^^/^.^, 



^ O 



"'•f'and 




^r .«. M iy\ >^ 






"^^^^W^SSak- 



f^TOvleans T*4p 



o ¥ M )E X 



NOTE. 

The United States seized part of West Florida 
in 1810, and part in 1812. 



92 



from 87 Greenwich 82 




R. D, SerTflss, EngV, K. V. 



FRENCH IN MEXICO; MAXIMILIAN. 339 

sufficient to pay the interest on the investment. Alaska, as 
the territory was named, has been discovered to be a land 
rich in mineral wealth and in valuable forests, while the 
climate is by no means a cold or very disagreeable one, though 
somewhat damp. It has already become a place of resort for 
summer tourists on account of the wonderful scenery, its 
mountains and glaciers rivalling those of Switzerland. As 
the Aleutian Islands were included in the purchase, the 
western limit of the United States was carried to longitude 
173° east from Greenwich, making the possessions of the United 
States cover one hundred and twenty degrees of longitude. 

Nebraska, which had been organized as a territory under 
the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 (sect. 280), was admitted 
as a state in 1867, with the proviso that negro suffrage should 
be allowed. 

365. French in Mexico ; Maximilian. (1861-1867.) — In 

1861 France, England, and Spain jointly had interfered with 
the affairs of Mexico on the ground of non-payment of her 
bonds, but England soon saw that Napoleon III., the Em- 
peror of France, had political designs in the movement, and so 
withdrew from the alliance. Spain also refused to have any- 
thing more to do with the matter. Napoleon, however, went 
on with his plans, in spite of the protest of- Secretary Seward 
that such action would be resented by the United States as 
contrary to the policy laid down in the Monroe Doctrine 
(sect. 208). French troops were sent to Mexico, the repub- 
lican government was overturned, and an empire in Mexico 
proclaimed. Napoleon's idea was to found a grand empire 
in Mexico tributary to himself. For emperor he fixed upon 
Maximilian, a nephew of the Emperor of Austria. Deceived 
by deputations of Mexicans who were under the influence of 
the French, he was persuaded to accept the offer, and in the 



340 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

spring of 1864 entered the city of Mexico. He soon quar- 
relled with the party who had supported him, but by the aid 
of the French troops he maintained his power in the capital 
and in some of the other cities. In 1865 the United States 
government, having come out of the Civil War successfully, 
again demanded of the French emperor the withdrawal of 
his troops. This time Napoleon deemed it wise to comply. 
Maximilian, however, thought he could get along without 
the support of the French, but the armies of the Mexican 
republican party captured him in 1867, and, though the 
United States interceded for him, he was shot, together with 
two native Mexican generals who had espoused his cause. 
His wife, Carlotta, a princess of Belgium, who felt herself in 
some degree responsible for his remaining in Mexico after 
the withdrawal of the French troops, became insane through 
grief. The Mexican republic was re-established and has 
remained undisturbed ever since. 

366. Expatriation ; Chinese Treaty ; Pacific Railroad ; San 
Domingo. (1868-1871.) — In 1868 the historian, George Ban- 
croft, then United States minister to the North German 
Confederation, negotiated a treaty with that power by which 
the right of expatriation was acknowledged ; that is, the Ger- 
man government recognized that a citizen of one country had 
a right to sever his allegiance to it and become a citizen of 
another country. This principle the United States had up- 
lield from the very first, but the European nations had been 
slow to accept it. It was not until two years later (1870) 
that England, by the passage of her Naturalization Act, 
adopted the principle, and gave up what she had claimed as 
a right, and had practised during the Revolutionary War as 
well as that of 1812. Most of the European nations have 
followed the example of Germany and England. 



CHINESE TREATY; SAN DOMINGO. 341 

During the same year, 1868, a treaty with China was 
negotiated through Anson Burlingame, who had been minis- 
ter to that country, but was now acting as agent for China. 
This was the first treaty which that country had ever, of its 
own accord, offered to make with a foreign nation. 

An early event of Grant's administration was the comple- 
tion of the Pacific Railroad at Ogden, Utah, May 10, 1869, 
which was appropriately celebrated. This great work, ac- 
complished by means of most liberal grants by Congress, was 
the first of those chains which bind the two extremes of the 
country together, and make a union under one government 
possible. By means of it and the other railroads to the Pacific 
which have since been built, communication with the Pacific 
states is easier and more rapid than between the cities of 
Boston and Washington in the early part of the century. 
Josiah Quincy, who protested, in 1811, against the admission 
of Louisiana as a state, partly because it would make the 
country too large to be governed as a republic, lived to see 
representatives from Oregon in Congress, and the Atlantic 
and Pacific bound together by telegraph and railroad. 

President Grant strongly recommended to Congress the 
annexation of San Domingo, part of the island of Haiti. He 
urged that it would be of great advantage to the United 
States as a coaling station for war vessels, that it was exceed- 
ingly fertile, and that under the care of the United States 
its people would rapidly increase in intelligence and in thrift. 
Congress did not approve of the scheme, feeling that the coun- 
try had enough on its hands in settling the difficult questions 
in the South without undertaking anything else of a similar 
nature ; and in this they represented the popular opinion. 

367. " Kuklux Klan." (1868-1871.) ~ All States represented 
in Congress. (1871.) — About the time of the Presidential elec- 



342 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

tion of 1868 a secret organization arose in the South, known 
as the " Kuklux Klan." Originally started to scare the 
superstitious colored people, it soon became a political soci- 
ety, whose purpose was to terrify the freedmen and intimi- 
date the " carpet-baggers " and their supporters. Some of 
its members, or pretended members, went on from this to 
commit outrages of various kinds and even murder. The 
operations were extensive enough to demand the attention 
of Congress, which passed severe laws to suppress the order, 
and appointed an investigating committee which made a volu- 
minous report. At last the law-abiding citizens of all political 
affinities united in suppressing it. The Kuklux Klan was 
chiefly active in North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, 
and Arkansas. 

The efforts of the white population of the South were 
directed towards getting control of the state legislatures, in 
order to revise the election laws. It was not very long before 
this end had been practically gained in most of the recon- 
structed states. By 1869 all the southern states had been 
readmitted to a representation in Congress except Virginia, 
Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas. These were admitted in 
the next year, so that in January, 1871, for the first time 
since 1860, every state was represented in Congress. The 
Supreme Court of the United States had decided, in 1869, 
in favor of the legality of the reconstruction measures of Con- 
gress. The court declared that the states had never been out 
of the Union, but that the Confederate government was " a 
temporary militar}^ dominion, in which the lawful authority 
was entirely suspended." 

368. Fifteenth Amendment; Civil Rights and Election Acts. 
(1870-1871.) — The flfteenth amendment, having been rati- 
fied by the requisite number of states, was proclaimed August 



FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT; CIVIL RIGHTS ACT. 343 

22, 1870.1 It was one thing to adopt amendments, but quite 
another thing to cany them out. Accordingly Congress, 
believing that in a great part of the South they were a dead 
letter, passed one law after another to enforce them. On 
this ground were passed the Civil Rights Act (1870), de- 
signed to apply to the fifteenth amendment; the Election 
Act (1870), which regulated all the national elections, and 
also made the manner of the election uniform, and the 
day of the election the same throughout the country ; ^ and 
the Enforcement Act (1871), or, as it was generally called, 
the " Force Bill." This bill was somewhat similar to the 
Sedition Act of 1798 (sect. 166), and was resented by the 
South and disapproved of by many in the North, even among 
the Republicans. It divided that party, and ultimately drove 
many permanently out of its ranks. A large committee was 
also appointed by Congress to inquire into the condition of 
the southern states. 

Grant and Colfax were inaugurated March 4, 1869. Ulys- 
ses S. Grant was born at Point Pleasant, Ohio, 1822. He 
was educated at West Point, graduating in 1843. He served 
in the Mexican War, under both Taylor and Scott, with 
credit. He resigned from the army in 1854, and, after some 
time, entered his father's leather store at Galena, Illinois, as 
a clerk. In 1861 he was appointed Colonel of a volunteer 
regiment, and later Major-General. In 1863 he was ap- 
pointed Major-General in the regular army; in 1864, Lieu- 
tenant-General ; and in 1865, General, reaching the highest 
rank. At the close of his second term as President, he 
made the tour of the world, and was received everywhere 
with the greatest distinction. He died July 23, 1885. 

1 Appendix HI., Constitution. 

2 Congress afterwards modified the law in regard to two or three states. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE NEW NATION. 
REFERENCES. 

General. — A. W. Young, The American Statesman, pp. 1427-1594; W. 
Wilson, Division and Reunion (Epochs of American History), pp. 273-287 ; 
James G. Blaine, Twenty Years of Congress, ii. 503-594. 

Biographies. — See references for preceding chapters, also Appleton's 
Cyclopaedia of American Biography. 

Special. — A. Johnston, American Politics, Chap, xxiii. ; E. Stanwood, 
History of Presidential Elections, Chap, xxiii. ; E. McPherson's Hand Books 
of Politics, 1872-1876 ; Appleton's Annual Cyclopaedia, 1872-1892. Indians 
and Indian Policy: Helen Hunt Jackson, "A Century of Dishonor"; F. 
A. Walker, The Indian Question; G. B. Grinnell, The Story of the Indian; 
Captain Pratt, Reports of Carlisle School; Twenty -two Years' Work at 
Hampton ; Atlantic Monthly, Ixviii. 540, 676 ; Century Magazine, xxx. 599 ; 
xxxviii. 394, 471, 536 ; xli. 643. Geneva Arbitration : C. Gushing, Treaty of 
Washington; J. J. Lalor, Cyclopaedia, i. 42; ii. 331. N. AV. Boundary: 
W. Barrows, Oregon, pp. 282-319. Fishery Question : C. Isham, The Fish- 
ery Question. Chicago Fire : New England Magazine, August, 1892, 

369. The Indian Peace Policy. (1869.) — One of the pleas- 
antest features of Grant's first administration is the effort 
which he made to deal justly with the Indians. This was 
called the " Peace " or " Quaker Policy." He announced in 
his first annual message that he had begun '' a ncAV policy 
towards these wards of the nation by giving the management 
of a few reservations of Indians to members of the Society 
of Friends," which body had since the days of William Penn 
taken special interest in the Indians and had lived peaceably 

344 




ULYSSES S. GRANT. 



INDIAN PEACE POLICY; ALABAMA CLAIMS. 345 

with them. The Society of Friends was to nominate agents 
to the President, and on his approval they were to be ap- 
pointed. Very soon other reservations were similarly en- 
trusted to other religious denominations. The President's 
wish was to treat the Indians justly, and later he recom- 
mended "liberal appropriations to carry out the Indian peace 
policy, not only because it is humane, Christianlike, and 
economical, but because it is right." The results of this 
policy, so far as it was carried out, were such as to give great 
encouragement to its friends. But after years of harsh and 
unjust treatment by the whites, the Indian was slow to 
believe in the reality of the change, and, on the other hand, 
the hordes of Indian contractors, who saw that their pockets 
would suffer, exerted their great influence to thwart and 
injure the new policy in every way ; many other persons 
Avere sceptical and gave it the cold shoulder, and not a few 
echoed the cruel saying, "the only good Indian is a dead 
Indian." There is, however, reason to believe that President 
Grant's action did much to bring the whole question before 
the country and to interest a large number of citizens every- 
where in the cause of the red man, resulting in the establish- 
ment of an " Indian Rights Association." 

370. Alabama Claims ; Geneva Arbitration. (1871.) — Though 
the United States had from the very first claimed damages 
from Great Britain for injuries inflicted upon American com- 
merce by the Alabama and other war vessels fitted out in 
English ports, the British government for a long time de- 
clined to entertain the question. At last, after the United 
States Senate had failed to ratify one treaty, a treaty was 
negotiated in 1871 at Washington — hence called the Treaty 
of Washington — between commissioners of both nations, in 
which it was agreed that all questions about which there was 



346 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

any dispute between the two nations should be left to arbitra- 
tion. The Alabama claims were to be referred to five arbi- 
trators, one to be appointed by the United States, one by Great 
Britain, one by Italy, one by Switzerland, and one by Brazil. 
A majority of these was to decide questions brought before 
them. The United States appointed Charles Francis Adams, 
who was the United States minister to London during the 
Civil War, and was of course thoroughly familiar with the 
whole matter ; Great Britain appointed Sir Alexander Cock- 
burn, then the Lord Chief Justice of England ; Italy, Count 
Sclopis; Switzerland, her Ex-President Staempfli ; and Bra- 
zil, Vicompte d'ltajuba. Other matters disposed of by the 
treaty were the Fishery Claims of Canada upon the United 
States, which were referred for settlement to a commission 
selected by Great Britain and the United States ; and the 
question of the true boundary between Washington Territory 
and British Columbia, which had been a disputed point since 
the treaty of 1842 (sect. 250). This last was left to the 
absolute decision of the Emperor of Germany. The fact that 
two of the most powerful nations in the world were Avilling 
to leave such important matters to arbitration, marked a 
great advance in civilization, and the fact that these impor- 
tant questions were all peaceably settled in this way was a 
still greater triumph of justice and good sense. 

37L Award at Geneva; Boundary Dispute. (1872.) — Fish- 
ery Question. (1877.) — The Alabama Commission met at 
Geneva, Switzerland, as had been arranged, and after each 
nation had presented its case, rendered its decision Septem- 
ber 14, 1872, awarding the United States $15,500,000 in com- 
pensation for the damages caused by the depredations of the 
Alabama and the Florida and their tenders. The American 
claim for indirect damages was not allowed by the commis- 



CHICAGO AND BOSTON FIRES. 347 

sion. Though England was by no means pleased with tlie 
verdict, the large sum was promptly paid to the representa- 
tive of the United States. 

The Emperor of Germany decided (1872) the boundary 
question in the Northwest in favor of the United States ; so 
that after nearly a century, the long line between the British 
possessions and the United States was finally settled in a 
peaceable manner. 

The Fisheries Commission met at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and 
(1877) awarded Great Britain 85,500,000 in compensation 
for the extra advantages accruing to the United States from 
the fishery clauses of the existing treaties. This was felt 
universally in the United States to be greatly in excess of 
the real sum due, and the House of Representatives at one 
time threatened to refuse to make the necessary appropria- 
tion, but better counsels prevailed, the appropriation was 
authorized, and the payment was made without unnecessary 
delay. 

372. Chicago and Boston Fires. (1871, 1872.) — During the 
year 1871 occurred one of the most disastrous fires in history. 
On the evening of October 9th, a fire broke out in a stable 
in Chicago, started, it was said, by a cow kicking over a coal- 
oil lamp. The fire quickly spread, until, aided by a high, 
wind, it passed beyond control, and for two days it raged 
through the richest and best parts of the city, only stopping 
when the lake was reached. More than three square miles 
were burnt over, between two and three hundred persons 
lost their lives, property to the amount of 1200,000,000 was 
destroyed, and about 100,000 people were rendered home- 
less. One of the most striking illustrations of the rapid 
communication between different parts of the world, and 
also of the increasing sympathy of men for men, is shown by 



348 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the fact that news of the great disaster had hardly been 
telegraphed to other parts of the country before subscrip- 
tions for the aid of the sufferers were begun, and provisions, 
clothing, and supplies of every kind that might be needed 
were sent by railroad. Contributions from all over the 
Union and from beyond the sea, even from Japan, kept 
pouring in to help the stricken city; no such widespread 
sympathy had ever been known before. About a year later, 
in November, 1872, Boston, Massachusetts, suffered from a 
great fire also ; about sixty-five acres were burned over, and 
propert}^ valued at nearly $80,000,000 destroyed. Like Chi- 
cago, the area burnt over was soon rebuilt finer than ever. 
Almost at the same time as the Chicago fire, great forest 
fires occurred in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan. In 
Wisconsin alone it was estimated that 1500 people were 
burned to death. 

373. Amnesty Bill ; Grant renominated ; Liberal Republicans ; 
Democrats. (1872.) — In May, 1872, Congress passed an 
Amnesty Bill by which the political disabilities of the former 
Confederates were removed. A few exceptions of prominent 
persons were made, but not more than three hundred and 
fifty in all. 

As the time for the Presidential election came around 
again, the majority of the Republican party were in favor of 
nominating President Grant for a second term. Though 
there had been many things connected with his administra- 
tion which wei-e objectionable, the majorit}^ of the people 
had most perfect confidence in his personal integrity. He 
was accordingly nominated, with Henry Wilson, of Massa- 
chusetts, for Vice-President. There was, however, a minority 
of the party which strongly disapproved of the use of the 
national troops in the South to help the reconstructed gov- 



LIBERAL REPUBLICANS; MODOC WAR. 



349 



ernments maintain their power, and others who believed 
from some scandals in connection with the national adminis- 
tration that a change was necessary. Sympathizers with 
these views called themselves Liberal Republicans, and, in a 
state election, succeeded in carrying Missouri. Encouraged 
by this, they started a national 
organization and nominated 
Horace Greeley, of New York, 
the editor of the Neiv York 
Tribu7ie, for President, and B. 
Gratz Brown of Missouri for 
Vice-President. The D e m o - 
cratic party had no great issue 
to present, and so adopted the 
candidates and platform of the 
Liberal Republicans. In the 
election that followed. Grant 
and Wilson were elected by a 
large majority of the popular 
and of the electoral vote. Horace Greeley, worn out by the 
excitement and by ill health, died soon after the election. 




HORACE GREELEY. 



374. "Modoc War." — During 1872 there was a war with 
the Modoc Indians. This tribe lived in southern Oregon 
and had been badly treated some years previously, and when 
new trouble began, the old wrongs were remembered. After 
a war of nearly a year, three commissioners with a flag of 
truce visited the tribes in their retreat among the lava beds, 
and while there two of them, one being General Canby of 
the United States Army, were killed. This was done because 
the commissioners had refused to yield to their demands, 
and to avenge some of the tribe who were killed while under 
a flag of truce by some United States troops twenty years 



350 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

before. After a great expense and loss of life, the tribe was 
completely conquered, and the few who were left were 
removed to Indian Territory.^ 

375. Commercial Crisis of 1873. — The effect of the Civil 
War upon business and financial matters was not clearly seen 
until 1873. Accustomed to lavish expenditure of money 
during the conflict, and encouraged by the success of the 
first Pacific Railroad, as Avell as by large crops, the country 
again entered upon a career of great enterprise, particularly 
in railroad building. During the four j^ears of Grant's first 
administration the railroad mileage of the United States was 
increased more than fifty per cent, and the total was equal to 
that of all Europe. A condition of affairs very similar to 
that in 1857 followed; finally a prorhinent banking house in 
Philadelphia, which was largely interested in the Northern 
Pacific Railroad, failed, and one of the worst and most wide- 
spread financial panics which this country has ever seen 
was precipitated. It was six years before the country fully 
recovered from its effects. 

376. Temperance Crusade in Ohio. (1873, 1874.) — During 
the winter of 1873-74 many of the women of Ohio, deeply 
interested in the temperance movement, started a crusade 
against the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors. 
Drinking-saloons were visited, and almost every means of 
persuasion and personal influence was used to induce the 

1 The subsequent history of the remnants of this tribe is a very interest- 
ing one. Some of them were put under the care of a Christian agent ; and 
tlirough the kindness and judicious treatment of this man and his wife, these 
Indians, once among the wildest and most intractable, have become among 
the most quiet and law-abiding ; a number have become members of the 
Society of Friends, and one ox two are ministers of the Gospel in that religious 
body. 



TEMPERANCE CRUSADE; CREDIT MOBILIER. 351 

saloon-keepers to give up the business. The movement ex- 
tended to Indiana and other western states, and also, to some 
extent, to New York, particularly in Brooklyn. Accompa- 
nied at times by objectionable features, the movement served 
the purpose of calling increased attention to the evils result- 
ing from the use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage. Partly 
as a result of this movement was the rise of the large and 
influential organization known as the Woman's Christian 
Temperance Union. The crusade also helped to establish a 
national Prohibition Party a few years afterwards. 

377. Weather Bureau. (1870.) — In 1870 Congress estab- 
lished the Weather Bureau for the purpose of making accurate 
observations of the weather, and publishing the results of the 
observations for the benefit of the public in the shape of 
'' indications " of approaching storms, fine weather, or changes, 
as the case might be. Records of the temperature, moisture, 
height of the rivers, and other matters of interest are made 
and published. As the result of careful observations and 
accurate comparison of many records, the " indications " 
published are realized in a very large majority of cases. 
These weather reports have been of great service in warning 
farmers, and also sailors in port, of approaching storms, and 
so have resulted in preventing much loss of property. Placed 
at first under the care of the Signal Service of the army, the 
Weather Bureau was, by order of Congress, transferred to 
the Agricultural Department, July 1, 1891. 

378. Credit Mobilier. (1872.) — "Franking" abolished; "Sal- 
ary Grab." (1872.) — During the Presidential campaign many 
charges of corruption had been brought against the Republi- 
cans, among them one that members of Congress had been 
bribed to pass measures favorable to the Union Pacific Rail- 



352 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

road, by presents of stock in a corporation known as the 
Credit Mobilier,i which was a company organized for the con- 
struction of the Union Pacific Railroad, relieving the stock- 
holders of any risk. Congress ordered an investigation, the 
result of which was that two of the members of the House 
of Representatives were absolutely condemned for the part 
which they had taken. Others suffered much in public esti- 
mation for their connection with the enterprise, and had to 
retire, perforce, from political life. 

Up to 1873 the members of Congress, and very many of 
the government officials, had the privilege of " franking " 
letters, and indeed all matter which could be sent through 
the mails.2 Mail matter addressed to congressmen and offi- 
cials was also free. This privilege was so grossly abused 
that public opinion demanded a revision of the law, which 
was changed so that only publications authorized by Con- 
gress, and communications on strictly official business of the 
government departments could be so sent. An allowance 
for postage was, however, made to each congressman. The 
same Congress also raised the salary of many of the officials 
of the government, among them that of the President of the 
United States to 850,000 per year, and that of the congress- 
men to 87500. In this latter case the bill was made to apply 
to the current salaries, and the increase to date back to the 
beginning of the Congress. This created such a storm of popu- 
lar disapproval that almost all the congressmen who had taken 
advantage of the new law returned the excess over the old 
salary to the Treasury. The bill was repealed at the next 

1 Credit Mobilier is a French phrase for credit on movable or personal 
property. 

2 By writing the name of the sender on the outside of the letter or package, 
it was insured free carriage ; this was " to frank." The widows of Presidents 
Grant and Garfield, and a few others, have the privilege of " franking." 



KEPUBLICAN REVERSES. 353 

session. Notwithstancling the storm of disapproval, Congress 
had only done what previous Congresses had done before. 
In itself the advance in the salary was doubtless justifiable, 
and had it been unaccompanied by the " Back Salary Grab," 
as it was called, it is likely the action would have provoked 
little criticism. The United States, lavish in almost every- 
thing else, has always been almost niggardly in the payment 
of its public servants. 

379. Republican Reverses. (1874.) — In 1874 the President 
was called upon at various times for assistance in preserving 
order in the reconstructed states (Constitution, Art. IV., 
sect. 4). This was done so often that the patience of the 
country, as well as that of the President, was exhausted. 
There was also a still larger number of persons than before 
who believed that the United States troops should no longer 
be used to support state factions, and that it was quite time 
to withdraw Federal troops from the reconstructed states. 
These feelings were shown very decidedly in the fall elec- 
tions of 1874, when states which had been considered surely 
Republican elected Democratic officers and legislatures, and 
the Republican majority of 107 in the House of Representa- 
tives was turned into a Democratic majority of 74. This 
political upheaval, showing a growing independence of 
thought, was not wholly due to southern affairs, but also to 
the political corruption which had been unearthed. It is not 
unlikely that the financial panic of the preceding year had its 
effect, for it is a curious fact, particularly in republics, that 
the party holding the reins of government for the time being 
is often held responsible for things wholly beyond its power 
to control, as well as for those for which it is directly respon- 
sible. Thus a failure in crops will sometimes turn a party 
out of office. 



354 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

380. Whiskey Frauds ; Resumption Act. (1875.) — During 
1875, extensive frauds on the government in connection 
with the internal revenue tax on whiskey were discovered^ 
implicating officers of the government, some of whom were 
convicted on trial. The result of these revelations of cor- 
ruption and dishonesty was a widespread and exaggerated 
belief in the inefficiency and corruption of government offi- 
cers generally. 

On January 14, 1875, Congress passed an act providing 
that on the first day of January, 1879, the Secretary of the 
Treasury should redeem in coin all United States legal- 
tender notes which might be presented to the Treasury, in 
sums of not less than fifty dollars. Many thought this act a 
mere political device, not believing it possible for the coun- 
try to resume specie payment so soon (sect. 392). 

381. Centennial Exhibition ; Telephone. (1876.) — As the 
centennial anniversary of the independence of the United 
States approached, it was determined to celebrate it by hold- 
ing a grand exhibition in the city of Philadelphia, where the 
independence had been proclaimed. In aid of this enter- 
prise Congress rather reluctantly voted an appropriation of 
$1,500,000. The other nations of the world were invited 
to take part in the exhibition, and it resulted in a truly 
international enterprise. One of the largest of the foreign 
displays was that of Great Britain, a pleasing testimony to 
the good feeling existing between the two great English- 
speaking nations of the world, in spite of the past occasions 
for differences. The exhibition was kept open from May 
10 to November 1, 1876, over 10,000,000 persons visiting the 
grounds during that time. The exhibition had a great edu- 
cational value. It brought the results of industry and inven- 
tion before the people to a degree impossible by other means, 



"SIOUX WAR"; COLORADO ADMITTED. 355 

instructed them in the knowledge of the products of their 
own and other countries, and greatly educated the taste of 
the whole community. Ever since that time there has been a 
marked improvement in the appreciation of the beautiful 
throughout the country. The United States surpassed all 
other nations in the variety and usefulness of inventions ; 
among the most striking of these was the telephone, then 
first brought into public notice, and the practical application 
of electricity for illuminating purposes. The invention of 
the telephone has been claimed by several persons, but to 
Alexander Graham Bell, of Massachusetts, seems to belong 
the credit of the invention of a practical instrument. 

382. "Sioux War"; Colorado admitted. (1876.) — Again 

trouble arose with the Indians, this time with the Sioux. 
This tribe had been given a reservation on which to live 
near the Black Hills in Dakota. It was not long before 
gold was discovered in this region, and immediately crowds 
of white settlers and miners invaded the reservation. This 
the Sioux, under the lead of the chief, Sitting Bull, and 
others, resisted, and naturally retaliated upon the settlers in 
Montana and Wyoming. The Sioux had already refused to 
give up their reservation and retire to the Indian Territory. 
A considerable force was sent against them; and, in the 
course of the war, General Custer with a small band of sol- 
diers rashly followed the Indians, and was attacked by them 
with a greatly superior force, and he and all his men were 
killed. The government, however, before long conquered 
the tribe, and Sitting Bull and the remnant fled across the 
border into Canada. 

Colorado was admitted as a state in 1876, and hence is 
known as the " Centennial State." Its chief interest is min- 
ing, but it is well adapted to grazing, and, in many parts, to 



356 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

agriculture. It is remarkable for the dryness of its atmos- 
phere, and hence has become a great health resort. Its 
growth in population and wealth has been rapid ; the Pacific 
Railroads have done much to make this growth possible. 

383. Impeachment of Belknap; Nomination of Presidential 
Candidates. (1876.) — At the Presidential election in 1876 
there seemed to be no great political questions before the 
country, and so the Republicans reaffirmed their old plat- 
form and dilated upon what the party had done in the past. 
The Democrats, encouraged by their successes in 1874, 
attacked the Republicans vigorously for the mistakes that 
had been made, and for the political corruptions which had 
been disclosed. These last had been increased by the charge 
that the Secretary of War, W. W. Belknap, had received 
bribes in relation to the appointment of office-holders. For 
this he was impeached by the House of Representatives, but 
having resigned the office before the impeachment, there was 
some question as to the power of Congress to take such 
action after his resignation had been accepted by the Presi- 
dent. As a two-thirds majority did not vote for conviction, 
the prosecution fell to the ground. 

An interesting feature of the campaign, showing the drifts 
and currents of public opinion, was the appearance in the 
field of two other parties with candidates. These were, first, 
the National Greenback Party, which held that the Resump- 
tion Act should be repealed, and that the currency of the 
country should be paper money, convertible at the will of 
the holder into United States bonds bearing 3.65 per cent 
annual interest; secondly, the National Prohibition Party^ 
which advocated, as the name implies, the prohibition of the 
manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors for a beverage. 
After a bitter contest in the convention, the Republican fac- 



RETURNING BOARDS. 357 

tions compromised by nominating Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio 
for President and William A. Wheeler of New York for Vice- 
President. The Democratic convention, rehearsing the short- 
comings of the Republicans and demanding the speedy repeal 
of the Resumption Act, nominated Samuel J. Tilden of New 
York for President and Thomas A. Hendricks of Indiana for 
Vice-President. After a most exciting canvass, it was found, 
after the election day, that the result was exceedingly close, 
and that the decision chiefly rested upon the votes of Florida 
and Louisiana. 

384. Returning^ Boards. (1876, 1877.) — During the recon- 
struction period in the South, one feature of the legislation 
had been the creation by law of committees called " Return- 
ing Boards," whose duties were to receive the election returns 
from the various parts of the state and count the number of 
votes for the different candidates. The discretionary^ power 
given to these boards was very great, and from their decision 
there was no appeal. Such powers would seem unwise under 
almost any circumstances, but the facts should not be over- 
looked in the discussion of the question. It was seen that 
the action of these boards would probably decide the elec- 
tion, and public attention was at once and closely directed to 
these states. On the face of the returns in both Florida and 
Louisiana, the Democrats had a majority of votes ; but the 
Returning Board in each of these states, having Republican 
majorities in each case, threw out so many votes on the 
ground of intimidation of voters, a legal excuse if true, that 
each state was given to the Republicans. The Democrats 
very naturally claimed that they had been cheated out of the 
election by fraud, and resolved to refuse to admit the votes 
of these two states, as well as of two or three others, when 
the time came for the counting of the electoral votes in Con- 



358 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

gress. If they were successful in this, the Democratic candi- 
dates would be chosen, or the choice of the President would 
devolve upon the House of Representatives, which, having 
a Democratic majority, would, of course, choose the ones 
claimed by the Democrats to be elected. The Republicans 
were equally strong in the determination to seat their can- 
didates, who they declared were legally and justly chosen. 
Congress had exercised for a long time the right to decide 
disputed electoral votes ; but now the Senate and House were 
controlled by different parties, and there seemed no hope of 
an agreement, as neither house would consent to any plan 
which would surely seat the opposing candidate. "Never 
since the formation of the government, nor even in the dark- 
est days of the Civil War, were there such anxious forebod- 
ings among thoughtful men as prevailed for some days in 
January, 1877." 

385. Electoral Commission. (1877.) — Finally the sober 
men of both parties in Congress united upon a plan to settle 
the dispute, which after much discussion was accepted by 
Congress and the President. This was, that a " Joint High 
Commission" should be appointed, to which all questions 
relative to points concerning the electoral votes upon which 
both houses of Congress could not agree, should be referred, 
and whose decision should be final. This commission was to 
consist of fifteen, five to be chosen by the Senate and five by 
the House of Representatives, four to be Justices of the 
Supreme Court, who were to choose another justice of the 
same court to complete the fifteen. It was so arranged that 
the fourteen were equally divided between the two political 
parties ; and it was expected that the justices would choose 
as their associate, Justice David Davis, who was classed as an 
independent in politics, and whose views no one knew. Just 



DECISION IN FAVOR OF THE REPUBLICANS, 359 

at this time, however, Davis was elected senator for the state 
of Illinois ; and it was deemed unsuitable for him to act on 
the commission. The justices accordingly chose another of 
the associates in his place. This one happened to be Repub- 
lican in his views, so the commission was constituted of eight 
Republicans and seven Democrats. 

386. Decision in Favor of Republicans. (1877.) — When 
the first disputed case came up before it, the commission 
decided, eight to seven, ^ that it would not go behind the 
returns of the Returning Boards and investigate the local 
proceedings in the contested states. This decision practi- 
cally gave the election to the Republicans. On all the im- 
portant points which came before it, the commission decided 
in favor of the Republican candidates, who were accordingly 
declared elected early on the morning of the 3d of March. 
Thus one of the greatest dangers to which the country has 
ever been exposed was peaceably averted. ''It has been 
reserved for a government of the people, where the right of 
suffrage is universal, to give to the world the first example 
in history of a great nation, in the midst of a struggle of 
opposing parties for power, hushing its party tumults, to yield 
the issue of the contest to adjustment according to the forms 
of law" (Hayes's Inaugural). The decision of the commis- 
sion not to go behind the returns was a wise one. Any 
attempt to investigate the alleged frauds would have led to 
endless trouble and dangerous delay, resulting in no legal 
government, as the investigation would necessarily have lasted 
long after the 4th of March, the time for a new administration 
to enter office. The acquiescence of both the Democratic candi- 
dates and of the party in the decision is worthy of great praise. 

1 That the decision should have been in accord with the political views of 
the majority was to be expected. Such has been the almost universal expe- 
rience in England and other countries. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

RECENT GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. 
REFERENCES. 

General. — W. Wilson, Division and Reunion (Epochs of American His- 
tory), pp. 288-299; James G. Blaine, Twenty Years of Congress, ii. 595-676 
(to 1881). Note: Appleton's Annual Cyclopaedia, 1876-1893, and "The 
Review of Reviews" (American edition), vols, i.-viii. (1890-1893), will be 
found very helpful for information in regard to recent topics. 

Biographies. — Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography; J. M. 
Brown, Life of James A. Garfield. 

Special. — A. Johnston, American Politics, Chap. xxiv. ; E. Stanwood, 
History of Presidential Elections, Chap. xxv. to end ; E. McPherson, Hand- 
Books of Politics, 1878-1892. James A. Garfield : Century Magazine, xxiii. 
168, 299, 431 ; James Russell Lowell, Democracy, etc., pp. 43-56. Civil Ser- 
vice Act : Publications of the National Civil Service Reform League ; J. M. 
Comstock, Civil Service in the United States. Chinese Immigration : Forum, 
October, 1890. Railroad Strikes : North American Review, cxxv. 125, 351. 
Mississippi .Jetties: Scribner's Monthly, xix. 46. Brooklyn Bridge: St. 
Nicholas, x. 689. New Orleans Cotton Exposition : Century Magazine, xxx. 
3, 185. The South : A. Johnston, American Orations, iii. 283-322 ; Susan 
Dabney Smede, Memorials of a Southern Planter ; H. W. Grady, The New 
South. The Negro Question: A. G. Hay good. Our Brother in Black; Cen- 
tury Magazine, xxx. 674 ; Atlantic Monthly, Ixx. 828. Charleston Earth- 
quake : Magazine of American History, xviii. 25. Lottery : Forum, xii. 555, 
569. Bering Sea: American History Leaflets, No. 6 ; E. J. Phelps, Harper's 
Monthly, Ixxxii. 766 ; Review of Reviews, September, 1893. Tariff of 1883 
and McKinley Tariff: F. W. Taussig, Tariff History of the United States 
(new edition), pp. 230-332. Confederate Pensions: Forum, xvi. 68. 

387. Hayes and his Administration. (1877-1881.) — Ruther- 
ford B. Hayes, born in Ohio, 1822, a Lawyer by profession, 

360 



HAYES AND HIS ADMINISTRATION. 361 

entered the army early in the Civil War, and rapidly rose to 
the rank of brigadier-general ; he was a member of Congress, 
1865-67; governor of Ohio, 1868-72, and again, 1876-77, 
thus holding the office three terms. He was a man of ster- 
ling integrity, an advocate of civil service reform, and of 
the early resumption of specie payments, and of a policy 
towards the South that would treat all classes with jus- 
tice. The inauguration passed off quietly, and the country 
breathed peacefully. President Hayes withdrew the few 
troops which were in the South, the whites assumed com- 
plete control, and the South became solidly Democratic. It 
was charged that Hayes, by acknowledging the Democratic 
governments in the disputed states, 
practically impugned his own title. 
He was, however, bound to accept the 
decision of Congress which declared 
that he was legally elected. 

The administration of Hayes was a 
welcome calm after the troubled years 
immediately following the Civil War. 
Void of any events of striking charac- 
ter, it has often been spoken of as '' a rutherford b. hayes. 
colorless administration," and it ''has 

not received even from the Republican press the credit to 
which it was justly entitled." President Hayes occupied an 
exceedingly difficult position, which he filled with dignity 
and with skill ; and his influence was always exerted on the 
side of morality, justice, reform, good government, and sound 
principles of finance. It is likely that posterity will rate 
his administration very much higher than his contemporaries 
rated it.^ 

1 Ex-President Hayes died, 1893. 




362 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

388. Silver Bill. (1878.) — In 1870, in order to strengthen 
the credit of the government, Congress had made all bonds 
which might be refunded payable in coin, and in an act 
passed February 12, 1873, in which the list of coins to be 
issued from the national mints was revised, the old silver 
dollar, which had been practically out of general circulation 
for many years, was dropped from the coinage. Previously 
it had been overvalued, that is, the silver dollar was intrinsi- 
cally worth more than the gold dollar ; under such circum- 
stances there was no reason for continuing its coinage. 
Shortly after the passage of this bill, by which silver was 
said to be .''demonetized," that is, to be no longer a legal 
tender in payment of debts, the production of silver was 
greatly increased by the discovery of new and rich mines in 
Nevada and elsewhere. The effect of this increased produc- 
tion Avas to make the value of silver in comparison with gold 
fall rapidly and steadily. Many, at first chiefly in the west- 
ern and silver- producing states, now wished silver to be 
restored as a legal tender; and a bill known as the Bland 
Bill, from the name of the congressman who introduced it, 
was passed, providing for the recoinage of the silver dollar 
of 4121 grains, and making it a legal tender, also requiring 
the government to coin not less than $2,000,000, nor more 
than 14,000,000, per month. The value of silver had fallen 
so much by this time that silver dollars of the weight pro- 
posed would be worth only 92 cents in gold. The advocates 
of the bill thought that its passage would raise the value of 
silver. President Hayes vetoed the bill, but it was passed 
over his veto by more than two-thirds majority .^ 

1 From 1784 to 1873 only 8,000,000 silver dollars had been coined alto- 
gether ; the supporters of the bill hoped to have six times as many coined in 
a single year. 



RAILROAD STRIKES; YELLOW FEVER. B63 

389. Railroad Strikes. (1877.) — In the summer of 1877 
the most extensive strikes which had yet been seen in the 
country occurred among the raih'oad employees of the mid- 
dle and some of the western states. They were started by 
the action of some of the railroad companies in lowering the 
wages of the men. In consequence, the men refused to 
work or to allow others to be engaged. Trains, except those 
carrying the United States mail, were stopped. At Phila- 
delphia and at Baltimore prompt action by the authorities 
preserved order, but there were riots at Pittsburg, Chicago, 
St. Louis, and elsewhere. At Pittsburg the riots assumed 
alarming proportions ; the mobs controlled the city, lives 
were lost, railroad stations, locomotives, cars, and large 
amounts of other property were destroyed, the loss being 
estimated at over 13,000,000. It was not until the militia 
were ordered out, and in some instances the United States 
troops, that the trouble ended. It was about two weeks 
before regular traffic was restored. 

390. Yellow Fever in the South. (1877, 1878.)— In the 
summer of 1877 and of 1878 the states on the Gulf of Mex- 
ico, and also parts of adjoining states, were visited with a 
terrible epidemic of yellow fever ; the cities of Memphis and 
New Orleans were the greatest sufferers. As in the case of 
the Chicago fire, assistance of all kinds was cheerfully sent 
to the afflicted cities. Yellow fever belongs to the class of 
so-called " filth diseases," and its spread was largely caused 
by the lack of sanitary regulations. Taught by this severe 
lesson, strict laws were enacted, and in the case of Memphis 
particularly, the whole city was thoroughly cleansed, new 
systems of drainage" adopted, and a rigorous system of sani- 
tary laws devised and carried out. This experiment has 
been attended with most satisfactory results. 



364 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

391. Mississippi Jetties. (1875.) The Mississippi River 
brings down a vast amount of sediment every year; much 
of this falls to the bottom near the mouth of the stream^ 
making the river shallower, impeding navigation, and also 
tending to make the river overflow its banks, causing great 
loss of property. Already two of the mouths of the Missis- 
sippi were too shallow to admit of large vessels using them, 
nor could the largest ships reach New Orleans even by the 
principal mouth. James B. Eads, of St. Louis, a civil engi- 
neer, designer of a splendid bridge across the river at St. 
Louis, proposed a plan to Congress, which, if followed out, he 
was confident Avould deepen the channel and at the same 
time keep the river within its banks better than had been 
possible heretofore. Congress grudgingly gave him permis- 
sion to test his plan, and made an appropriation conditional 
upon his success, compelling him moreover to try his experi- 
ment upon the mouth or pass of the river least used and 
most unpromising, the South Pass. His idea was to confine 
the water within narrower bounds, thus making the current 
swifter, and so force the water not only to clear out its own 
channel, but to keep it cleared out, the swiftness of the 
current preventing much deposit of sediment. This plan 
had been pursued with great success with the Danube, and 
Captain Eads proposed to apply this ''jett}^ system," as it is 
called, to the Mississippi. Within the contract time he had 
deepened the channel from eight to twenty feet, as he had 
promised, and later the channel was further deepened, so that 
the largest vessels can now come up to New Orleans without 
any difficulty. 

392. Resumption of Specie Payments. (1879.) — On the 1st 
of January, 1879, in accordance with the act of Congress four 
years before (sect. 380), the Secretary of tlie Treasury, John 



SPECIE PAYMENTS; GARFIELD ELECTED. 365 

Sherman, was ready to give coin in exchange for any United 
States notes which might be presented for payment. So satis- 
fied were the people that such would be the case, and so high 
had the credit of the government become on account of the 
steady payment of the debt, that the premium on gold had 
gradually disappeared, or, more correctly, the notes became 
equal to gold, and when the holders knew that they could 
get gold whenever they wished, no one cared to exchange 
the convenient representative of the metal for the heavy 
metal itself. The success of the operation increased the 
credit of the government still more, so that it was now able 
to borrow at a lower rate of interest than ever, and so refund 
a large portion of its debt with a great saving in the annual 
expense for interest. Loans at 6 per cent and over were 
called in and reissued at 4^ per cent and 4 per cent. About 
130,000,000 a year in interest was thus saved. 

393. Garfield elected President. (1880.) — In the Presidential 
election of 1880, James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur, 
the Republican candidates, were elected over General Win- 
field S. Hancock and William H. English, the Democratic 
candidates. Garfield was born in Ohio, of New England 
parentage, in 1831. His early years were spent in great 
poverty, but by dint of great effort he succeeded in getting 
a collegiate education at Williams College, Massachusetts ; 
he then studied law, taught, was a professor in Hiram Col- 
lege, Ohio, and at the outbreak of the Civil War entered the 
army and soon reached the rank of major-general. While 
in the field he was elected to Congress, and left the army, 
believing that he could do his countr}^ more service in the 
legislative body than in the field. He was representative 
in 1863-81. He was chosen senator in 1880 for the term 
beginning in 1881, and while a member of the Presidential 



k 



366 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

nominating convention, was unexpectedly chosen candidate 
for the Presidency, enjoying the experience, probably unique, 
of being representative, senator-elect, and President-elect all 
at the same time. 

394. Assassination of Garfield; Arthur succeeds. (1881.) — 

No man since John Quincy Adams had been elected to the 

Presidency who seemed in every way better fitted for the 

office. His nomination was unsought, 

/ and he was untrammelled by political 

bargains. Much was looked for from 

his administration ; but a disappointed 

office-seeker shot the President in a 

railroad station at Washington, July 

2, 1881, as he was about leaving for a 

Fourth of July celebration at his old 

college in Massachusetts. After lin- 

jAMEs A. GARFIELD. gcrlug for a Httlc over three months, 

he died, September 19, at Elberon, on 

the New Jersey coast, wliere he had been removed in the vain 

hope of improvement. The fortitude with which he bore his 

suffering aroused the sympathy and admiration of the world. 

The Vice-President had the reputation of being little more 

than a politician, nominated for political reasons, and many 

voted for him reluctantly ; but his admirable deportment 

during the illness of the President reassured the countr}^, and 

he proved himself fully worthy of the office which fell to him 

without the wish or expectation of the people. Arthur was 

born in Vermont, 1830, received a college education, taught 

school, and studied law; was collector of tlie port of New 

York, 1871-78, elected Vice-President, 1880, and quietly. 

succeeded to the Presidency at Garfield's death. ^ 

1 Ex-President Arthur died in New York, November 11, 1886. 




ANTT-POLYGAMY BILL; CIVIL SERVICE ACT. 367 

395. Anti-Polygamy BiU. (1882.) — Civil Service Act. (1883.) 

— In 1882 Senator Edmunds, of Vermont, introduced a bill 
into Congress, which was passed, designing to suppress polyg- 
amy, still practised by the Mormons in Utah and in the neigh- 
boring territories. A result of this act was, that in 1890 
the president of the Mormon body officially stated that polyg- 
amy was to be abolished. 

The death of President Garfield had attracted the atten- 
tion of the people to the question of reform in the matter of 
appointments and removals in the public service. Ever since 
the time of Andrew Jackson, public offices had been consid- 
ered the legitimate reward for party services ; but now the 
people began to feel that the government business should be 
carried on according to business principles, and that a gov- 
ernment clerk should not be chosen because he was a Demo- 
crat or a Republican, but because of his fitness for the position, 
nor should he be turned out unless for incomiDetency or breach 
of trust. President Grant, during his administration, had 
urged the subject upon the attention of Congress, and a bill 
creating a board of civil service commissioners had been 
passed, and appointments made under its advice ; but Con- 
gress refused to continue the appropriation for its support. 
However, the feasibility of making appointments on the 
ground of fitness for the office, and not for political reasons, 
was demonstrated. In 1883 Congress passed the Pendleton 
Civil Service Act, which was approved by President Arthur. 
This allowed the President to appoint examiners, who were to 
decide upon the qualifications of the applicants for the offices, 
and from those shown to be qualified appointments were to be 
made. The provisions of the bill applied to but a few of the 
offices at first, but have since been extended to many more.^ 

1 The bill was introduced by George H. Pendleton, a Democratic senator 
from Ohio, and was passed by votes in both houses of Congress, irrespective 



368 HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. 

Another important feature of the act was the provision 
that contributions shall not be solicited from the government 
employees for political purposes, nor may employees take an 
active part in political contests. As the Constitution vests 
the power of appointment, except for inferior offices, in the 
President (Art. II., sect. 2), any law respecting appointments 
can only be in the nature of advice ; but the force of public 
opinion and the desire to escape the tremendous pressure for 
offices are likely to be sufficient to lead Presidents, at least 
gradually, to take advantage of the act. 

396. Mississippi Floods. (1882.) — Tariff Revision. (1883.) 

— Attention was diverted for a time from political matters 
by a great disaster in the Southwest. In 1882 the Mississippi 
River overflowed its banks, broke through the levees, and 
flooded the neighboring country for miles; thousands were 
forced to leave their homes, and there was great suffering in 
consequence. There would have been many deaths from 
exposure and starvation had not Congress promptly author- 
ized the War Department to furnish tents and rations. 

It has been seen that one way adopted to secure part of 
the funds necessary for the carr^dng on of the Civil War had 
been to raise the duty on imported goods, and, at the same 
time, greatly to extend the list of dutiable articles. It. was 
nov/ eighteen years since the close of the war, a large part of 
the debt had been paid off, and the income of the government 
was much greater than its necessary payments. Many per- 
sons thought not only that taxation was too high, but that a 
surplus of revenue Avas bad for the country, as it tended to 
encourage extravagant appropriations by Congress. Accord- 

of party. Civil service includes all lower executive offices, but not those in 
the army or navy. The bill does not apply to heads of departments or the 
hidier offices. 



BROOKLYN BRIDGE. 369 

ingly, it was determined to begin to make a reduction by 
lowering the tariff. A commission was appointed ; and as a 
result of its work, a revision of the tariff was made in 1883, 
but the reductions were very slight, and little was accom- 
plished. 

397. Brooklyn Bridg^e. (1869-1883.) — Standard Time. 
(1883.) — The cities of New York and Brooklyn, practically one 
city in most respects, are separated by the East River, a deep 
stream and a great highway of commerce. Propositions had 
frequently been entertained for bridging it ; but it had been 
considered too expensive and too doubtful of success to be 
attempted until 1869, when John A. Roebling, the civil engi- 
neer who designed the suspension bridge across the Niagara 
River just below the falls, undertook the work. He died 
before the bridge was begun; but his son, Washington A. 
Roebling, carried out the plans, and the great work was com- 
pleted in 1883. It is one of the longest suspension bridges 
in the world and one of the most beautiful. It is over a mile 
long, is supported by wire cables more than a foot thick, and 
is one hundred and thirty -two feet above the water at high 
tide. 

In 1883 the great trunk railroad companies, which had 
suffered much inconvenience from the different standards of 
time in use in different parts of the country, agreed to divide 
the country from east to west into four sections, as nearly equal 
as practicable. Throughout each section the same time was to 
be used, the time to be that of the meridian passing through 
the middle of the section. These central meridians are ex- 
actly one hour apart, and are calculated from the meridian of 
Greenwich, England. Thus when it is noon in New York, 
it is eleven o'clock in the forenoon at Chicago, which is in 
the next section, and so on, regardless of the actual time at 



370 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

any given place. So much have railroads entered into the 
economy of modern civilization, that almost all persons in 
the country have adopted the new system, and now set their 
clocks and watches to agree with '' railroad standard time." 

398. Washington Monument Completed. (1885.) — Yorktown 
Celebration. (1881.) — During Arthur's administration two 
interesting eVents brought back the memory of the Fore- 
fathers' days, and illustrated the changes which have taken 
place in the meantime. Immediately after the death of 
Washington, Congress had voted to erect a monument in 
his honor, but it was not until nearly fifty years had passed 
that even the corner-stone was laid (1848). The erection of 
the shaft was undertaken by an association, but the work 
went on so slowly that the unfinished monument became a 
subject of ridicule. At last Congress was persuaded to make 
appropriations to complete the work, and it was finished and 
dedicated February 21, 1885. It is a simple obelisk of white 
marble, five hundred and fifty-five feet high, and capped with 
aluminum. It was a remarkable circumstance that Robert 
C. Winthrop, of Massachusetts, the orator who composed the 
oration at the time of laying the corner-stone, was still living 
and able to prejDare that for the dedication. When the shaft 
was more than half done it was found that the foundation 
was sinking, and so it was determined to try to build a new 
foundation without taking down that part of the structure 
which had already been erected. This work, a triumph of 
modern engineering, was successfully accomplished under 
the direction of Colonel Casey, of the United States Corps 
of Engineers. The monument forms a striking feature of 
Washington city. 

The other event was the celebration of the centennial anni- 
versary of the surrender of Yorktown, October 19, 1881. 



NEW ORLEANS COTTON EXHIBITION. 371 

The celebration was held on the s^Dot; and, by invitation, 
there were present a number of the Lafayette family, and 
other representatives from France. One of the very pleasant 
features of the occasion was the participation in the exercises 
of the British minister and other Englishmen, thus showing 
how changed were the feelings from those of one hundred 
years before. At the close of the exercises. President Arthur 
gracefully ordered the British flag to be raised, that it might 
receive a military salute in order to show the good feeling 
existing between the two countries. 

399. New Orleans Cotton Exhibition. (1884.) — There was 
another centennial celebration of quite another character held 
in New Orleans in 1884. In 1784 eight bags ^ of cotton were 
exported from the United States, the first shipment of the 
kind which had ever been made, and it was to commemorate 
this event that " The World's Industrial and Cotton Centen- 
nial Exposition " was held at the greatest cotton port of the 
United States, — New Orleans. The eight bags of 1784 had 
become 3,884,233 bales in 1884, of \thich about 2,000,000 
bales were exported from New Orleans.^ 

Interesting as the growth in the cotton industry was, the 
exhibition was still more instructive in showing the vast 
strides which the South had taken in the seventeen years 
which had passed since the close of the war, in agriculture, 
and particularly in manufactures. In 1860 south of Mary- 
land there were hardly any manufactures to be reported in 
the census ; in 1884 millions of dollars were invested in mills 
producing cotton cloth, iron, oil, flour, and many other arti- 
cles, while in agriculture the production under free labor far 
surpassed that under slavery. The cotton crop of 1860, up 

1 The eight bags were about equal to one bale. 

2 A bale of cotton is taken as weighing about 450 pounds, though bales 
vary considerably in weight. 



372 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



to that time the largest ever raised, amounted to about 
5,000,000 bales, but that of 1884 was 8,000,000 bales, and in 
addition to this, besides a large amount of corn and wheat, 
the South now raised vast quantities of early fruits and vege- 
tables, wliich, owing to the rapid means of transportation 
offered by railroads and steamship lines, found a ready mar- 
ket in the northern cities ; and in Florida thousands of 
orange groves supplied the northern markets with oranges, 
excelling in flavor those from Italy and the West Indies, and 
to a very great extent displacing them. 



400. Political and Social Condition of the South. (1884.) — 

Notwithstanding the vast increase in material prosperity in 
the South, it was evident that it would be a long time before 
the political and social condition of the freedmen and that of 

their descendants would be in a 
'^-^f^/^' thoroughly satisfactory state. In 

South Carolina, Louisiana, and 
Mississippi, where the whites are 
in an actual minority, an especially 
difficult problem presents itself. 
In the light of recent history, few 
would justify the almost unlimited 
suffrage granted to the freedmen 
by the reconstruction acts of Con- 
gress. The remedy for the present 
state of affairs is education, and 
this the colored people are surely 
and rapidly getting. In 1866 
George Peabody, the philanthropist, gave a large sum, after- 
wards increased to 13,500,000, in aid of education in the 
South; and in 1882 John F. Slater, a wealthy manufacturer 
of Norwich, Connecticut, gave 11,000,000 for the education 




GEORGE PEABODY. 



FOUR PARTIES IN ELECTION OF 1884. 373 

of the freedmen in the South. Both these hirge endow- 
ments are under the care of boards of management. The 
southern states themselves are spending Large sums in the 
cause of education of both white and colored children, and 
it is fairly to be expected that the political affairs will adjust 
themselves gradually, as social matters are doing. One of 
the most striking features of the " New South'" is the accu- 
mulation of property by the former slaves and their descend- 
ants. In 1865 this class may be said to have had no property ; 
in the census of 1890 they are shown to have already be- 
come owners of $100,000,000. 

401. Four Parties in Election of 1884. — In the Presidential 
campaign of 1884 there were four candidates in the field. 
The Republicans nominated James G. Blaine, of Maine, for 
President, and John A. Logan for Vice-President. These 
nominations were unsatisfactory to a large number of the 
party, who claimed that they were wholly in the interest of 
the politicians, and not of the country. Many withdrew from 
the Republicans, calling themselves Independents, but were 
popularly named " Mugwumps." ^ 

A number of these held a convention and issued a circular, 
calling upon those who sympathized with them to support 
the Democratic candidates and to persuade every one they 
could to do likewise. 

The Democratic Convention nominated Grover Cleveland, 
who was governor of New York, for President, and Thomas 
A. Hendricks, of Indiana, for Vice-President, which Avas 
entirely satisfactory to the party. A convention representing 
various shades of political belief, and called the Anti-Monop- 
oly, Greenback, Labor, and People's Party, nominated General 

1 This word seems to be of North American Indian origin, and meant orig- 
inally a chief, hut is now used as signifying a " bolter," or an independent. 



374 HISTORY OF THE UXTTED STATES. 

Benjamin F. Butler, of Massachusetts, and A. M. West, of 
Mississippi. The Prohibitionists nominated Governor John 
P. St. John, of Kansas, and William Daniel, of Maryland. 
A feature of the Prohibition Convention was the presence of 
a number of women delegates. The platform of this party 
declared against any revenue being collected from the sale 
of alcoholic beverages and tobacco, demanded the prohibition 
of the manufacture, sale, and use of intoxicating beverages 
where the national government had control, and that no new 
state should be admitted until it had by its constitution pro- 
hibited the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors, and 
polygamy. 

402. Cleveland elected ; his Character. (1884-1885.) — The 

election which followed was so close a one outside of the 
state of New York that the result depended upon the vote 
in that state, where the two great parties were so evenly 
divided that several days elapsed before the facts could be 
determined. A condition of affairs very similar to that which 
had defeated Henry Clay in 1844 (sect. 257) defeated Blaine. 
Enough dissatisfied Republicans voted with the Democrats or 
with the Prohibitionists to give Cleveland the state by a small 
plurality, and for the first time since 1856 the Presidency fell 
to the Democrats.^ 

Cleveland and Hendricks were quietly inaugurated March 
4, 1885. Stephen Grover Cleveland was born in New Jersey, 
March 18, 1837, but was taken by his father to New York in 
1841. He was educated at an academy at Clinton, removed 
to Buffalo, studied law, was assistant district attorney, sheriff", 
and mayor of Buffalo. In 1882 he was elected governor of 
New York, which office lie held, 1883-85, resigning it to 
assume the Presidency of the United States. He showed 

1 1149 ill a vote of 1,125,159. 



PRESIDENT CLEVELAND. 



3T5 



himself a man of inflexible courage and uncompromising in 
his opinions. As mayor of Buffalo and as governor of New 
York, he was distinguished for the readiness with which he 
vetoed measures which did not commend themselves to his 
judgment. It was a disadvantage to him that he was without 
experience in congressional legislation. 




403. President Cleveland. (1885.) — Acts relating to Election 
of President. (1886-1887.) — His probable course on assum- 
ing the duties of the Ex- 
ecutive Chair was a matter 
of much interest to the 
friends of civil service re- 
form. He did not disap- 
point them. For the first 
time since Andrew Jack- 
son, there was no wholesale 
change of government em- 
ployees ; and the provisions 
of the Civil Service Act 
were carried out in respect 
to the offices to which it 
applied, in spite of the 
great pressure brought to 
bear upon the President who represented a new party in power. 

Though the Senate and the House of Representatives were 
controlled, one by the Republicans and the other by the 
Democrats, two very important acts were passed and ap- 
proved by the President, (a) The Presidential Succession 
Act (1886), which provides that in the case of the death or 
disability of both the President and Vice-President, first the 
Secretary of State, and then, if necessary, the other members 
of the Cabinet, one after the other, shall be acting President 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 



376 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

until the disability is removed, or a new President shall be 
elected at the usual time. To avoid any invidious distinction, 
the secretaries are named in the order in which the several 
departments were created : (1) Secretary of State, (2) of the 
Treasury, (3) of War, (4) Attorney- General, (5) Postmaster- 
General, (6) Secretary of the Navy, (7) Secretary of the 
Interior. Any of these who is constitutionally disqualified for 
holding tlie office of President is to be passed over, as well as 
any one who has not been confirmed as secretary by the Senate 
in executive session. There was no separate department of 
agriculture at this time, for the Secretary of Agriculture was 
added to the Cabinet in 1889. (b) The Electoral Count 
Act (1887), providing a method of counting the electoral 
votes for President and Vice-President, which will prevent 
the recurrence of the difficulty which had arisen in 1876, as 
well as guarding against others. The aim of the act is to 
have disputes relative to the validity of the votes settled by 
state tribunals. 

404. Interstate Commerce Act ; Chinese Exclusion Act. (1887- 
1888.) — Another important act of legislation was the Inter- 
state Commerce Act (1887), designed to regulate commerce 
between the various states, particularly the rates charged by 
railroads for passengers and freight. In many respects this 
is one of the most far-reaching measures ever enacted by 
Congress. Still another act (1888) was designed to prevent 
the immigration of the Chinese laborers, who were, it Avas 
contended, ruining the rates of wages for Americans, and 
indeed for all other laborers than themselves. It Avas urged 
that the Chinamen came to the United States with no inten- 
tion of becoming citizens, but simply for the purpose of 
making money enough to enable them in a few years to 
return to China ; that they brought no families with them. 



CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT; LABOR TROUBLES. 377 

ate little but rice, and lived in a way in which no others would 
be willing to live ; and, moreover, that they had brought im- 
moral customs with them, and that the whole tendency of such 
a community was injurious to the country in the extreme. The 
bill passed, with little opposition, through Congress. Some 
believed, however, that this act and an act of 1880, to which 
it was supplementary, were violations of treaty obligations 
with the Chinese as well as being otherwise objectionable. 
The matter was soon brought before the Supreme Court of 
the United States, which decided that the " power of the legis- 
lative departments of the government to exclude aliens from 
the United States is an incident of sovereignty, which can- 
not be surrendered by the treaty-making power." The Chinese 
Immigration Acts were not thoroughly effective, owing to the 
extreme difficulty of preventing the excluded class from 
being smuggled across the border from Canada, where there 
was no law forbidding the immigration of the Chinese. 

405. Labor Troubles and Knights of Labor. — For some years 
there had been a growing feeling of antagonism between the 
laboring class and the capitalists and manufacturers. This 
feeling Avas intensified by the appearance of an increasing 
number of rich men, who had gained their wealth from the 
mines, from the oil fields, by successful speculation in railroad 
stocks and bonds, or in various more strictly commercial 
enterprises. The working-men believed that an unjust share 
of the products of industry went to the capitalists, and that 
the " rich were getting richer, and the poor poorer " all the 
time. They felt, and often very rightly, that the hours of 
labor were longer than necessary, and they had also many 
other grievances of varying degrees of justice. In order to 
enforce their demands and protect their interests, a number 
of labor organizations were formed at various times. Among 



378 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the most extensive of these was '' The Knights of Labor," 
which numbered many thousands in its membership, and 
whose influence extended into every state in the Union. 
These organizations, through committees or delegates, or 
through both, presented the demands of the employees to the 
manufacturers. If the manufacturers refused the demand for 
higher wages, shorter hours, dismissal of objectionable fellow- 
workers, or change of rules, the association or " union " would 
order all members to cease working, or to ''strike," as it is 
called. Frequently, when " union men " struck, they would 
not permit " non-union " men to take tlieir places or to work 
under any circumstances. The employers, on their part, fre- 
quently made out a list, called the " black list," of those men 
who were likely to give trouble, and declined to give work to 
them. In return, the associations made use of a method intro- 
duced from Ireland, called "boycott," which is to persuade 
others to have nothing to do with the person disliked, decline 
to work or to deal with him, or to use goods manufactured 
by him or passing through his hands. ^ The boycott proved 
a powerful weapon, but, like a blade without a handle, it 
cut both ways, for it helped to bring about the importation 
of foreign laborers who were willing to work at a lower rate 
than native workmen, and who would be free from the labor 
organizations. 

406. Strikes ; Anarchist Riots in Chicago. (1886.) — The 

labor troubles Avere specially frec^uent in 1886, which has 
been called the year of strikes, so many of the latter having 

1 Captain Boycott was an Irishman, who became such an object of hatred 
to the persons among whom he lived that they refused to have anything to 
do with him. Inciting others to "boycott" any one with the design of in- 
juring him, has been decided by the courts of the United States to be illegal 
and punishable. 



STRIKES; ANARCHY; CHARLESTON EARTHQUAKE. 379 

taken place during that year and leading to riot. The worst 
of many riots took place in Chicago. Early in the spring it 
was estimated that 40,000 men were " on a strike " in that 
city alone. The disturbances culminated on May 4, when 
a crowd was addressed by a number of speakers who urged 
the most radical and violent methods of gaining their ends. 
On the police ordering the mob to disperse, a dynamite 
bomb was thrown at the officers, which exploded, killing and 
wounding many. In return, the body of police charged 
and fired upon the mob, killing and wounding a great num- 
ber. The ringleaders were seized, brought to trial, four were 
hanged, and others imprisoned.^ It was a relief to the coun- 
try to find that all the ringleaders but one were of foreign 
birth, and were of that class of anarchists whose object is to 
overthrow all governments and to do away with all the rights 
of property. The working-men throughout the country dis- 
claimed and denounced these riots. 

407. Charleston Earthquake ; Statue of Liberty. (1886.) — 

During the summer of 1886 the city of Charleston, South 
Carolina, was visited by a severe earthquake. Lives Avere lost, 
and many buildings were either thrown down or so shaken 
that they were obliged to be j)ulled down afterwards. Tlie 
total loss was estimated at 15,000,000. Again, as in the case 
of the calamities at Chicago and at Boston, the suffering 
citizens had abundant and substantial aid from their sympa- 
thizing fellow-countrymen. 

A pleasant incident of the year 1886 was the completion 
and dedication of the statue of " Liberty enlightening the 
World," presented by the French Republic to the United 
States, in commemoration of the old friendship between the 

^ Those still in prison were pardoned, in 1893, by the governor of Illinois, 
on the ground of an unfair triaL 



380 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

two countries, and as an evidence of the faith of the French 
people in republican institutions. The bronze statue, known 
to every one who leaves or enters the harbor of New York, is 
one hundred and fifty feet high. The expense of the pedes- 
tal was contributed by the citizens of the United States. 
The whole structure, which is situated on Bedlow's Island, 
rises three hundred feet above the water. At night it is 
illuminated with electric light. 

408. The Surplus. (1886.) — As the debt of the country 
decreased, the need for money decreased also, and the income 
was far greater than was necessary to meet the annual 
charges for interest and for the expenses of supporting the 
various departments of the government. The reduction of 
the tariff (1883) had amounted to little, and though the 
internal taxes had been removed from nearly everything 
except liquor and tobacco, there was still an annual surplus 
over expenditures of about '$100,000,000. Of course it was 
a matter of great pride to the country to enjoy such pros- 
perity, that it could of its own will tax itself for such a 
large sum and yet be scarcely conscious of a burden. 

But there are vexed problems connected with a national 
surplus of any considerable size. First, where a financial 
system like the Sub-Treasury system of the United States is 
in vogue, there is, as has been said, no way to get the money 
back into cii'culation, except by the payment of interest, of 
salaries, by paying for government works, or by purchase of 
national bonds, often at a high rate. The first three methods 
are inadequate, and the last is dependent upon the willingness 
of the owners to part with their bonds. Secondly, a large 
surplus is, from the very nature of the case, difiicult to 
expend economically and judiciously. No nation had been 
able to show such a large surplus year after year as the 



MILLS BILL; HARRISON ELECTED. 381 

United States, but men of all parties felt that the surplus 
was larger than was best. 

409. Mills Bill ; Harrison elected. (1888.) — Both of the 
prominent parties were bound to reduce the surplus some- 
how. This could be done in two ways, or by a combination 
of the two: (1) lessening the income, (2) increasing the 
expenditure, (3) lessening the income in some directions 
and increasing the expenditure as well. President Cleve- 
land, following the traditions of his party, naturally decided 
that the true way to meet the difficulty was to reduce the 
income of the government, by abolishing the duty on some 
goods, and reducing it on others to a point which would 
bring about a " tariff for revenue " only. This opinion he 
gave to Congress in his annual message of December^ 1887, 
in which, contrary to precedent, he confined himself to one 
subject, — the tariff. This action brought up the old question 
of free trade or protection as a decided party issue. 

The House of Representatives, in response to this action, 
passed a tariff bill, under the name of the Mills Bill, so 
called from its principal author, which proposed to reduce 
largely the tariff on imports. The Senate, which had a 
Republican majority, refused to concur, and so the measure 
failed. 

In the Presidential election of 1888, the Democrats nomi- 
nated President Cleveland, with Allen G. Thurman, of Ohio, 
for Vice-President ; and the Republicans nominated Benjamin 
Harrison, of Indiana, with Levi P. Morton, of New York, for 
Vice-President. The Prohibitionists nominated Clinton B. 
Fisk, of New Jersey, and John A. Brooks, of Missouri. The 
United Labor party also put candidates in the field. Little 
or no objection could be made to the candidates on personal 
grounds, and so the whole issue was on matters of public 



382 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



policy. The Democrats advocated a tariff for revenue only, 
while the Republicans advocated a tariff for revenue and, at 
the same time, distinctly for " protection of home industries." 
As in 1884, the election was decided by the vote of New 
York, which, this time, gave a plurality for the Republican 
candidates.^ 

410. Benjamin Harrison. (1889.) — Harrison and Morton 
were inaugurated March 4, 1889. Benjamin Harrison, the 
grandson of William Henry Harrison, the ninth President 
of the United States (sect. 249), and the great-grandson of 
Benjamin Harrison, of Virginia, the friend of Washington, 
signer of the Declaration of Independence, and governor of 

Virginia, was born in Ohio, August 
20, 1833. Educated at Miami 
University, Oxford, Ohio, he soon 
began the study of law. Having 
very moderate means, he removed 
to Indiana in the hope of better- 
ing his condition, and in 1858 he 
was the reporter to the Supreme 
Court of that state. In 1861 he 
entered the army at the head of 
a regiment, and in 1865 he rose 
to the rank of brevet brigadier-general. At the close of the 
war he returned to his home in Indianapolis and resumed 
his law practice. In 1880 he was elected United States sena- 
tor, and served the full term of six years. While in the 

1 Every northern and western state, except Connecticut and New Jersey, 
declared for the Republican ticket, and every southern state for the Demo- 
cratic ticket; so, again, there was a "solid South." Texas gave Cleveland 
the large plurality of 146,000, while in South Carolina the total vote for all 
candidates was 13,000 less than it had been in 1884, and 91,000 less than in 
1880. 




BENJAMIN HARRISON. 



OKLAHOMA; WASHINGTON CENTENNIAL. 388 

Senate he supported civil service reform and a protective 
tariff and opposed "greenback " legislation. 

As under the administration of Cleveland, those holding 
offices to which the civil service applies, were not displaced ; 
but, as under previous administrations also, many, particu- 
larly in the Post-Office Department, were either removed or 
not reappointed when their terms expired. 

411. Oklahoma; Washington Centennial. (1889.) — One of 

the earliest acts of the new administration was the opening 
of the territory of Oklahoma to white settlers. This tract 
of 39,030 square miles was situated in the midst of the 
Indian Territory. There was a rush to the new territory to 
take up claims under the land laws, but by proclamation of 
the President, any one entering the district before noon of 
April 22, 1889, would never be allowed to acquire any rights 
therein. At midday the horde of eager aspirants rushed 
across the line, claims were staked out with marvellous 
rapidity, and towns of tents or rough board shanties sprang 
up like magic. In about five months, Guthrie, the principal 
town, had a population of 4000, several banks, four daily 
papers, and lines of street-cars. In 1890 the population of 
the new territory was 61,834. These lands were bought from 
the Creek and Seminole Indians, and opened to settlers by 
act of Congress March 2, 1889. Great numbers of negroes 
went to Oklahoma. 

An imposing celebration of the one hundredth anniversary 
of the inauguration of Washington at New York, April 30, 
1789, was held in that city April 29-30, 1889 ; the President 
and the Cabinet and a large representation of the army and 
navy, as well as of citizens, taking part in it. 

412. Johnstown Flood; Four New States. (1889-1890.) — 

One of the most terrible disasters which has ever been 



384 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



known in the country took place at Johnstown, central Penn- 
sylvania, May 31, 1889. A large dam on the Conemaugh 
River gave way, and a column of water nearly half a mile 
wide and forty feet high swept down the valley towards the 
town with amazing rapidity ; it is said to have traversed a 
distance of eighteen miles in fifteen minutes. Almost with- 
out a moment's warning villages and houses were carried 
away ; even an express passenger railroad train was unable 
to get away from the flood, and was overtaken with destruc- 
tion. The flood swept on to Johnstown, a busy manufactur- 
ing town, which was almost completely destroyed. About 
2200 persons are thought to have lost their lives, many whole 
families being swept out of existence, and property valued 
at #10,000,000 was destroyed or rendered worthless. Again 
were contributions quickly and liberally made to aid the 
sufferers. 

During the last few days of the preceding administration, 
Congress had authorized the admission of four new states, 
which, having fulfilled the required conditions, were admitted 
to the Union by proclamations of the President in the fall of 

1889. They were North Da- 
kota, South Dakota, Montana, 
and Washington. Idaho and 
Wyoming were admitted in 
July, 1890, and Utah in Jan- 
uary, 1896, making the num- 
ber of states forty-five. 
413. Pan-American Congress. 
(1889-1890.) — In the autumn 
of 1889 a congress of representa- 
tives from the principal inde- 
pendent nations of America began its sessions at Washing- 
ton. This Pan-American Congress, as it was named, was 




FLAG OF UNITED STATES. 
1896. 



PAN-AMERICAN CONGRESS; "FILIBUSTERING." 385 

held, at the invitation of the United States, for " the purpose 
of recommending some plan of arbitration for the settlement 
of disputes between them [the states of both American Con- 
tinents], and of considering questions relating to the improve- 
ment of business intercourse, and means of direct communi- 
cation between said countries." The congress made sundry 
recommendations, the most important of which is that " the 
republics of North, Central, and South America adopt arbi- 
tration as a principle of American international law for the 
settlement of all differences, disputes, or controversies that 
may arise between them." The members of this congress, 
during the session, spent six weeks in visiting the principal 
cities of the United States.^ 

414. " Filibustering " in Congress ; Quorum. (1890.) — Great 
complaints had long been made of the dilatoriness of Con- 
gress in matters of legislation, and, from time to time, vari- 
ous measures had been adopted to expedite the vast and 
increasing business to be acted upon by Congress, but there 
still remained much to do in this direction. One of the ways 
of " filibustering," as it was called, to prevent the passage of 
bills in the House of Representatives, was to refuse to vote 
upon a measure, and when the record of the clerk showed 
that less than a majority voted on the bill, to raise the point 
of order that no quorum was present, and then demand the 
calling of the roll. As this operation occupies considera- 
ble time and can be repeated almost indefinitely, it is quite 
possible for a comparatively small number to block legislation 
almost witliout limit. 

1 The congress consisted of sixty-six members. Haiti, Nicaragua, Peru, 
Guatemala, Colombia, Argentine Republic, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Brazil, 
Honduras, Mexico, Bolivia, United States, Venezuela, Chile, Salvador, and 
Equador v^^ere represented. The congress adjourned April 19, 1890. 



386 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The fifty-first Congress met in 1889, with a Republican 
majority in each house, and Thomas B. Reed, of Maine, was 
elected Speaker, and during this Congress radical changes 
were made in the rules of the House of Representatives de- 
signed to stop filibustering; the most important being as to 
what constituted a quorum. It was decided that all members 
present, whether voting or not, should be counted (sect. 418). 

415. McKinley Tariff ; Reciprocity ; Pension Bill. (1890.) — 

The Republicans, having control of both houses of Congress, 
were in a good position to enact measures in accord with the 
principles of the party, as the Executive was also Republican. 
The most important and far-reaching of the measures enacted 
were two: (1) A new tariff bill. This, after a very long 
discussion, passed both houses and became a law October 6, 
1890. Called from the chairman of the Committee of Ways 
and Means who reported it, the " McKinley Bill," few meas- 
ures have called forth more discussion. It was based on the 
principle of protecting American industries. It reduced the 
revenue by admitting sugar, except a few grades, free, and while 
reducing the rate of duty on many articles, and adding largely 
to the free list, it also increased the duty on other articles for 
the express purpose of protecting and stimulating American 
products and manufactures. A provision was also intro- 
duced by which articles otherwise free were to be dutiable, 
if the country from which they came levied duties on Ameri- 
can products. This was known as the " reciprocity measure." 
(2) A pension bill vastly extending the list of pensioners. 
While the provisions of this act do not differ materially from 
those of the {mts pensioning the veterans of the War of the 
Revolution, of 1812, and of the Mexican War, the vast num- 
ber to receive compensation under the act made the measure 
one of great importance. It is estimated that the average 



REPUBLICAN DEFEAT; FARMERS' ALLIANCP:. 387 

annual charge to the country will be for some years more 
than il50, 000,000. No other nation has ever attempted to 
reward its soldiers and sailors to a like extent.^ 

416. Republican Defeat ; Farmers' Alliance. (1890.) — Shortly 
after the passage of the McKinley Bill, the elections for the 
members of the fifty-second Congress were held and the Re- 
publicans met a crushing defeat at the polls, the Democrats 
changing a minority of 21 into a majority of 135. The enor- 
mous appropriations of the fifty-first Congress, doubts of the 
wisdom of the Pension Bill, and fears of a probably increased 
cost of living, due to the McKinley Tariff Bill, helped to 
bring about this political revolution. It was also due, to 
some extent, to the direct and indirect influence of an or- 
ganization, which, though not at first political in its character, 
had much influence upon voters, and in 1890 began to make 
itself felt as a political power. This was known as The 
National Farmers' Alliance and Industrial Union. Its objects 
were mutual improvement and the furtherance of the interests 
of farmers. The first alliance appears to have been in New 
York about 1873, and by 1889 the various state organizations 
were united into a national body, which in 1890 claimed a 
membership of about 2,000,000. 

417. Legislation of 1890-1891. — Among the important leg- 
islation during 1890 was (1) a bill designed to put a stop to 
lotteries by forbidding the transportation through the mails 
of advertisements and prospectuses of lottery companies, and 

1 "All the [former] Confederate states either grant pensions to disabled 
or helpless ex-Confederate soldiers, or have soldiers' homes"; Maryland 
and Missouri have soldiers' homes. The amount appropriated is necessarily 
small. In this way they contribute to the support of both of the old armies. 
The total amount contributed for this purpose was, in 1892, over a million 
dollars. 



388 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

also of mail matter addressed to tliem ; ^ (2) a bill to provide 
for the inspection of salt pork or bacon before exportation, 
and to prevent the importation of diseased cattle and other 
animals, and of adulterated food ; (3) a bill for the increase 
of the navy by authorizing the construction of large war 
vessels ; (4) an act modifying the Interstate Commerce Act 
(sect. 404) so as to give each state authority to regulate the 
sale of goods brought into it, even though they might be in 
'^ original packages " ; (5) a bill known as the Sherman Act, 
to modify the Bland Act (sect. 388), by providing that the 
Secretary of the Treasury should purchase, at market price, 
not exceeding a certain limit, 4,500,000 ounces of silver bull- 
ion monthly, and issue in payment of such purchases notes 
redeemable in coin ; (6) a bill to provide for an international 
exhibition to celebrate the four hundredth anniversary of the 
discovery of America by Columbus in 1492. After consid- 
erable discussion, Chicago was selected as the place for the 
exhibition to be held, and as it would be impracticable to 
have everything in readiness by the anniversary, the actual 
opening was fixed for May, 1893. Another act (1891) was 
the one providing for international copyright ; by this bill 
foreign authors, musical composers, and a few others, are 
under certain conditions given the benefit of copyriglit for 
their works in the United States. Before the passage of this 
act, any one in America could reprint any foreign work with- 
out payment to the author. While many American publishers 
voluntarily paid authors something, the amounts were neces- 
sarily small, for there was nothing to prevent others from also 
republishing a book and offering it at a lower price. 

1 The Louisiana Lottery Company tested the constitutionality of this act, 
but the Supreme Court confirmed it. The issue of the next election for gov- 
ernor in Louisiana was the lottery question, and the company was again 
defeated. 



CENSUS OP 1890; DIFFICULTY WITH ITALY. 889 

418. Census of 1890 ; Fifty-second Congress. (1891.) — Late 
in the year the Census Bureau reported tlie population of 
the United States to be 62,622,250, a gratifying increase over 
the census of 1880 (Appendix VI.). Congress, in a few 
weeks, passed a reapportionment act, making the number of 
the House of Representatives 356 (Appendix VIII.). The 
census also showed that the centre of population had moved 
westward, during the preceding ten years, forty-eight miles. 




CENTRE OF POPULATION. 



The fifty-second Congress met December, 1891, with an 
overwhelming Democratic majority «of 135 in the House of 
Representatives. Charles F. Crisp, of Georgia, was elected 
Speaker, and the House refused to adopt the rules made by 
its predecessor (sect. 414). 



419. Difficulty with Italy. (1890.) — In the fall of 1890 
the chief of police of the city of New Orleans was shot and 
killed by assassins believed to be Italians, whose ill-will he 
had incurred. A number of men were arrested and tried for 
the murder, or for abetting it. On the trial six were acquitted, 
and in the case of three others a mis-trial was entered. Pop- 
ular feeling was greatly stirred in regard to the matter, and 
it was almost universally believed that the jury had been 
bribed. On March 14, 1891, a mob broke into the jail and 



390 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

lynched eleven Italians confined there, including those who 
had been on trial as well as two who had been acquitted by 
direction of the judge. The Italian government, on the 
ground that the murdered men were Italian subjects, at once, 
through its minister at Washington, protested, and subse- 
quently demanded reparation. The Secretary of State re- 
plied that, while the United States government greatly 
regretted the occurrence, the punishment of the offenders 
rested with the Louisiana authorities, and that the United 
States would not guarantee an indemnity. On this the 
Italian minister took his departure, and it seemed for a time 
as if war might result, but the affair was settled, in 1892, by 
the United States government offering, out of good-will, to 
compensate the families of the three or four victims who 
were shown to be Italian citizens, and diplomatic relations 
were shortly after resumed by Italy. 

420. Trouble with Chile; Bering Sea. (1891.) — A revolu- 
tion in Chile occurred during 1891, and soon after some 
sailors from a war vesselfDf the United States were attacked 
in the streets of Valparaiso by a mob, and two were killed 
and others rouglily handled. The government of the United 
States demanded reparation, and for some time it seemed as 
if serious trouble between the two nations would result, but 
calmer counsels prevailed, and after a time the difficulty was 
peacefully settled. 

Another international episode relates to the extreme north, 
where, owing to the wholesale slaughter of seals in Bering 
Sea, which threatened to exterminate that valuable animal in 
a short time, the United States government determined to 
interfere, and claiming that, under the privileges which were 
acquired from Russia when Alaska was bought, the United 
States had the right to consider Bering Sea as under lier 



BALLOT REFORM; HOMESTEAD LABOR TROUBLES. 391 

control, at least so far as the seals were concerned, began to 
seize vessels catching seals, and to confiscate the skins found 
on them. As many of the "seal poachers" were from Can- 
ada, the British government remonstrated, denying the juris- 
diction claimed by the United States. After much diplomatic 
correspondence a treaty was concluded, providing for the 
arbitration of the matters in dispute, — another triumph for 
the principle of settling international disputes by arbitration. 

421. Ballot Reform. (1888-1892.) — But there were inter- 
nal matters of great interest taking place as well. Partly 
the result of the elections of 1888, and partly the result of a 
slow growth in popular feeling, there was a general demand 
through the country for a reform in the methods of conduct- 
ing popular elections. This feeling, too strong to be ignored, 
forced one state legislature after another to pass ballot-reform 
laws, which, to a greater or less degree, removed occasions 
for fraud and gave better opportunity for the secrecy of the 
ballot, so increasing the independence of the voter. By 
the time of the election of 1892 thirty-seven states had 
adopted some modification of the Australian ballot, so called 
because the system was first brought into use in Australia. 
This most important reform was supported by each of the 
great parties. 

422. Homestead Labor Troubles. (1892.) — One of the most 
serious labor troubles that the country has yet experienced 
took place in the summer of 1892, at Homestead, near Pitts- 
burg, Pennsylvania. The trouble arose between the em- 
ployees in the large iron works at that place and the owners. 
This trouble was greatly aggravated by the owners employing 
a private force of men to protect their property. These men 
were fired upon as they approached the town, and were 



392 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

forced to surrender. So great was the disturbance, that the 
governor of the state was obliged to call out the whole militia 
of the state to preserve order. The strike spread among the 
iron workers of Pittsburg and the neighboring places until 
several thousands are said to have been " on strike." Fortu- 
nately, there was no collision between the troops and the 
strikers, but it was some weeks before quiet was assured and 
the troops withdrawn. The expense to the state was great, 
and the loss to the workers and to the company was millions 
of dollars, and worse than all, a fair and amicable adjustment 
of the claims of labor and capital was in no way helped on. 

423. Columbian Exposition. (1892.) — In many of the large 
cities the anniversary of the discovery of America was cele- 
brated by great processions and military and naval demon- 
strations; some of these were very imposing. In very many 
of the schools, both public and private, throughout the land, 
"Columbus Day" was also celebrated b}^ raising of flags, 
singing, recitations, and speech-makings. From the 21st to 
the 23d of October, the formal dedication ceremonies of the 
World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago took place, in the 
presence of thousands of spectators (sect. 430). 

424. Republican and Democratic Platforms. (1892.) — As 
the time for a new Presidential election came round, it was 
evident that the independent voters, whose numbers would 
be greatly increased by the adoption of the Australian ballot, 
and also the rank and file of the parties, were likely to exer- 
cise more influence than heretofore. This was shown in the 
selection of candidates. The Republican Convention renomi- 
nated Benjamin Harrison, and selected Whitelaw Reid, of 
New York, as candidate for Vice-President. The platform 
reaffirmed the " American doctrine of protection," upheld the 



PARTY PLATFORMS. 393 

McKinfty Tariff Bill and the reciprocity measures under it, 
and praised the policy and actions of the Republican party 
generally. The Democratic Convention nominated ex-Presi- 
dent Grover Cleveland and Adlai E. Stevenson, of Illinois. 
The platform denounced the attempts of the Republicans to 
bring about Federal control of elections, the system of pro- 
tection in general, and the McKinley Bill in particular, and 
recommended the removal of the tax on state-bank issues of 
paper money. The money " plank " in both platforms was 
practically the same, each upholding the use of both gold 
and silver as currency, and demanding that all dollars issued 
by the government, whether gold, silver, or paper, should be 
kept of equal value. The only important difference between 
the two platforms was in the tariff " plank " and in the rec- 
ommendation of the removal of the tax on the bank-bills of 
state banks. 

425. Prohibition, and People's Platform. (1892.)— The Pro- 
hibition party for the sixth time put candidates in the field, 
choosing John Bidwell, of California, and J. B. Cranfill, of 
Texas. The platform, in addition to the Prohibition " plank," 
among other things, advocated woman suffrage, equal wages 
without respect to sex, increase in tlie amount of the circu- 
lating medium, and that revenue should be raised by levying 
a burden upon what the people possess, instead of upon what 
they consume. All who believed in Prohibition were invited 
to " full party fellowship." 

There was also a new party formed, whose adherents were 
mostly in the West. This was the People's party, or the '' Popu- 
lists' " party, an outgrowth of the Farmers' Alliance (sect. 
416). Its platform, after a general condemnation of the two 
great political parties of the country, advocated the union of 
the labor forces of the United States, the loaning of money 



394 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

by the government to its citizens at two per cent interest, a 
national currency, " free and unlimited coinage of silver and 
gold at the present legal ratio of sixteen to one," increase of 
the circulating medium, a graduated income tax, postal sav- 
ings banks, government ownership of railroads, telegraphs, 
and telephones, and prohibition of alien ownership of land. 
Resolutions were also passed condemning subsidies by the 
government and the protective system, and others commend- 
ing the Australian system of voting, the enforcement of the 
eight-hour law in government work, the election of United 
States senators by a popular vote, and other reforms of various 
kinds. The convention nominated James B. Weaver, of loAva, 
who had been candidate of the Greenback party in 1880, and 
James G. Field, of Virginia. 

426. Democrats Successful. (1892.) — The campaign was 
the least exciting one that had taken place for a long time, 
and was marked by the absence of personalities, and by the 
great stress laid upon matters of public policy. The two 
chief candidates had eacli occupied the position of President, 
the fitness of each was known, and the personul character of 
each valued and appreciated, and there was a very general 
feeling that, whichever should be elected, the interests of the 
nation would be looked after conscientiously and with ability. 
The result was the choice of the Democratic candidates by a 
large majority of the electoral votes. The Democrats also 
retained the control of the House of Representatives, though 
with a much reduced majority, and gained control of the 
Senate as well. Th6 People's party developed unexpected 
strength, choosing one or more Presidential electors in several 
states, besides congressmen. 

Among the important measures passed by the fifty-second 
Congress were a national quarantine bill, an immigration bill 




The UNITED STATES 



1896 

SCALE OF MILES 



^ 



50 100 200 300 



S fMT-^^ Q^' 






f Mavqw 












/LouiSville * i- 




fe NlN E 







V 









OF M \E ji- J. 



/ NOTE. \ 

Vermont was set off from New York and New Hamp- 
shire and admitted to the Union, 1791; Maine was set off 
from Massachusetts and admitted, 1820; "West Tirgmia 
was set off from Vir2;inia and admitted, 1803. 







Greenwich 87 



R. D. Servos3,.En«'r, N.T. 



SECOND INAUGURATION OF CLEVELAND. 395 

imposing additional restrictions upon immigration, and a bill 
providing that, by a certain date, all railroad cars should be 
provided with automatic safety couplers. 

427. Second Inauguration of Cleveland; Bering Sea Case. 
(1893.) — The inauguration of Cleveland and Stevenson took 
place on the 4th of March, and for the first time since 1861 
the Democrats controlled all branches of the government. 

A very pleasant feature of the transfer of the chief gov- 
ernment offices to the new incumbents was the courteous 
manner in which it was done, and the kindly good feeling 
shown on both sides. The large number of government 
employees under the civil service rules, and to Avhom a 
change of party rule was no longer a vital question, some- 
what diminished the number of office-seekers, though the 
number was much greater than had been expected by the 
friends of reform. 

The Bering Sea case (sect. 420) had been referred to seven 
arbitrators, and they, after a most patient and careful con- 
sideration of the matters submitted to them, decided, in 
August, 1893, against the claim of the United States, to the 
exclusive jurisdiction of the seals beyond three miles from 
shore. But the tribunal made such stringent provisions, bind- 
ing upon both Great Britain and the United States, for the 
protection of the seals, that, while failing technically, the 
United States gained the real point at issue, — the protection 
of the valuable fur-bearing animals. So '' again has arbitra- 
tion been successfully applied to questions which diplomacy 
confessed itself unable to solve. Formerly such a juncture 
meant war." ^ 

1 Though these regulations apply only to Great Britain and the United 
States, it is expected that tliey will be sufficient to stop most of the destruc- 
tive sealing. 



396 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES., 

428. " Silver " Legislation ; Financial Distress ; Elections. 
(1893.) — There was a very general feeling, particularly in 
the eastern and central states, that the " Sherman Act " of 
1890 (sect. 417), by its clause requiring the regular monthly 
purchase by the Treasury of silver bullion, was greatly inju- 
rious to the financial interests of the country. President 
Cleveland called an extra session of Congress to meet in 
August, 1893, and recommended the repeal of the bill. The 
fifty-third Congress met at the time appointed, organized by 
the re-election of Charles F. Crisp as Speaker, and after 
several weeks' discussion, mostly in the Senate, passed an 
act repealing the '^compulsory purchase clause." 

The business situation of the country during the greater 
part of the year 1893 was very gloomy, and not since 1873 
were there so many failures and such financial depression. 
Uncertainty as to the character and amount of the tariff 
legislation to be expected from the new Congress aggravated 
the troubles. It was not at all surprising under these cir- 
cumstances that, as is so often the case, the party in poAver 
suffered. 

The state elections of 1893 resulted in overwhelming suc- 
cesses for the Republicans. In New Jersey, and particularly 
in New York, the friends of reform were greatly encouraged 
by the crushing defeat at the polls of the candidates nomi- 
nated and supported by the political " rings." 

429. Hawaii. (1893.) — A revolution in Hawaii took place 
January 14, 1893. Two days later a large public meeting 
denounced the queen and her advisers, and the '" Committee 
of Safety," it is said, requested the protection of the United 
States ; accordingly a detachment of troops was landed from a 
United States cruiser, it is claimed, to preserve peace and order 
and protect American interests. The next day a " Provisional 



HAWAII. 397 

Government " was organized and set up, " until terms of union 
with the United States of America have been negotiated and 
agreed upon." The queen submitted under protest, and the 
government was recognized by the United States minister and 
other foreign representatives. Commissioners were sent to 
negotiate a treaty of annexation with the United States. 
Such a treaty was negotiated and sent to the Senate for con- 
firmation Febi-uary 15, but was not acted upon before the 
expiration of Harrison's term of office. On March 6, Presi- 
dent Cleveland withdrew the treaty, and then sent a special 
commissioner to Hawaii to investigate and report. Shortly 
after the commissioner reached Hawaii he declared the pro- 
tectorate established by the American minister at an end, and 
ordered the United States flag, which had been raised over 
the government building, to be removed. 

On the return of the commissioner to the United States 
with h\B report, a new minister was sent out with instruc- 
tions intended to restore, if possible, the queen to her former 
position, on the ground that it was the illegal use of United 
States troops which had brought success to the revolution- 
ists.^ Late in the year Congress requested information and 
papers relative to the matter from the President, which he 
sent, practically acknowledging the failure to settle the diffi- 
culties by diplomatic means, and leaving affairs in the hands 
of Congress. The year closed with little further light upon 
the matter, and nothing accomplished. 

430. Close of the Columbian Exposition. (1893.) — The suc- 
cess of the Exposition at Chicago (sect. 423) far exceeded 

1 United States troops had previously been used in Hawaii to preserve 
order in 1874, and during the former administration of President Cleveland 
in 1889. Annexation also was nearly accomplished in 1854, under President 
Pierce. 



398 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

anticipations. A foreign visitor expresses the general opinion 
in saying : " Only those who have seen it can justly appre- 
ciate how far this latest of international exhibitions has 
surpassed all its predecessors in size, in splendor, and in 
greatness, both of conception and of execution." Probably 
the most striking feature of the exhibition was the excellent 
situation combining land and water advantages. The manner 
in which these features were utilized was most admirable, and 
the architectural skill displayed in the buildings, united great 
beauty of design and execution with adaptation to required 
needs. The attendance was over twentj^-seven millions, more 
than double that of the Centennial Exhibition (sect. 381). 



CHAPTER XX. 

ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND LITERARY CONDITIONS. 
REFERENCES. 

Note. — The volumes of Appleton's Annual Cyclopsedia contain the most 
accessible accounts of recent events ; the " Record of Current Events " in the 
Review of Reviews is a brief monthly chronicle ; the annual issues of the 
Tribune and World Almanacs (New York) are rich in political, statistical, 
and general information. 

Biographies. — American Men of Letters Series. F. H. Underwood, 
H. W. Longfellow, J. G. Whittier ; W. J. Linton, J. G. Whittier ; S. Long- 
fellow, H. W. Longfellow. 

Special. — Immigration, Urban Population : Compendium of Eleventh 
Census ; Harper's Monthly, Ixix. 118 ; The Nation, xli. 46, Hi. 333, 352, 
401, liii, 209. Irrigation: Appleton's Annual Cyclopaedia, 1889, pp. 451- 
464 ; Review of Reviews, viii. 394 ; The Nation, xlvii. 390 ; The Forum, 
xii. 740 ; North American Review, cl. 370 ; Harper's Magazine, Ixxvii. 233. 
Forest Reservations : Century Magazine, xlvi. 792 ; Review of Reviews, viii. 
63. Natural Gas : Appleton's Annual Cyclopaedia, 1886, p. 366. T. A. 
Edison, and Electricity : Review of Reviews, viii. 35-62. Inland Commerce 
and Transportation : United States Treasury Report on Inland Commerce, 
1891; Century Magazine, xxxviii. 353; The Forum, xii. 729; Review of 
Reviews, viii. 536. The New South : H. W. Grady, Writings and Speeches, 
"The New South"; The Forum, xiii. 66, 673. Pacific Coast: The Forum, 
xii. 410 ; Review of Reviews, viii. 524. Education : R. G. Boone, Educa- 
tion in the United States. Literature : M. C. Tyler, History of American 
Literature (1607-1765) ; C. F. Richardson, American Literature (1607- 
1885) ; E. C. Stedman and E. M. Hutchinson, Library of American Liter- 
ature, 11 vols. 8vo. ; E. C. Stedman, Poets of America. Learned Socie- 
ties and Libraries : R. G. Boone, Education in the United States, chap. xvi. 
Newspapers : F. Hudson, History of Journalism in America ; North Ameri- 
can Review, cl. 197, 364 ; The Forum, ix. 198 ; Century Magazine, xl. 260. 

399 



400 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

431. Interstate Emigration ; Foreign Immigration. — During 
the years which we have been considering, many important 
movements have been going on in the country, some so 
silently as hardly to attract notice, Avhile others have claimed 
attention from time to time. x\mong the most important 
of these has been the great westward marcli of emigrants 
within the country, made possible by the construction not 
only of the great trunk railroads, but also of the numerous 
branch roads, which, like small arteries, liave carried popula- 
tion far and wide. This native emigration has in the main 
been along the parallels of latitude. 

A greater movement has also been in progress. It is the 
habit of historians, and rightly so, to speak of the seventeenth 
and eighteenth centuries as the " period of colonization " ; 
but the colonization of the last half of the nineteenth century 
has been on a vastly greater scale. Since 1820 there have 
been landed in the United States over sixteen millions of im- 
migrants,^ more than one-third of these having come during 
the ten years ending June 30, 1890. P'or the last few years 
the average annual increase of population from this source 
has been over half a million. Most of these immigrants have 
been of great advantage to the country, and they have 
adapted themselves to their new conditions of life in a 
wonderful manner, but their influence on the country of 
their adoption has not had that attention which it deserves. 
Settling, as many of them have done, in communities, mostly 
in the western states, preserving their language, and to some 
extent, their customs, it was impossible for the social, politi- 
cal, and industrial conditions of life in America not to be 
modified b}^ tlieir influence. To a certain degree this state- 
ment is true of ever}^ pait of the country where foreign immi- 
grants liave settled. 

1 From 1820 to eTuiie ^0, 1893, 10,443,823. 



URBAN rOPULATlON; IRRIGATION. 401 

432. Urban Population. — Another movement which has 
been silently going on is the increase of the population living 
in cities and built-up towns ; according to the census of 1890 
nearly one-third of the total population being urban (Appen- 
dix vi.). This increase has been almost wholly in the North 
Atlantic States ^ and the Northern Central States,^ and it is 
due to several causes, chiefly the rapid extension of manufac- 
tures and commerce, both of which require compact living. 

In the South and in most of the western states the urban 
population is relatively small. 

433. Irrigation; Forest Reservations. — West of a line* nearly 
corresponding to the 100th meridian west from Greenwich 
the territory of the United States, except in northern Cali- 
fornia and the western portions of Oregon and Washington, 
is arid or semi-arid, the natural rainfall not being sufficient 
to support agricultural crops. For a long period a large 
part of this region was spoken of as the " Great American 
Desert," and the " bad lands," and it was regarded as unin- 
habitable. The examj^le of the Mormons in Utah, and of a 
few others elsewhere, showed that water was the only thing 
needed, and that if this could be introduced, the problem 
of cultivating and inhabiting the arid region w^as solved. 
Already large tracts of California, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, 
and other portions of the region have been brought into rich 
cultivation by means of more or less extensive systems of 
irrigation. The extent of territory which the existing water 
supplies will irrigate is as yet very uncertain. 

The acts of Congress establishing the Yosemite, the 

1 The New England States, New York, New Jersey, Pennsj'lvania ; to 
which should be added Delaware and Maryland, 

2 Of these it has been mostly in Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, AVisconsin, 
Minnesota, and Missouri. 



402 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Sequoia, and the Yellowstone National parks, Avere Inghly 
approved of by the people, and widely known. An act 
passed in 1891, which attracted very little attention, was 
that providing for a series of national forest reservations, 
which already aggregate about twenty thousand square miles, 
an area nearly three times as great as the state of Massachu- 
setts. Though they vary in size, they average about a million 
acres each. The object of this act is to preserve the forests 
and to guard the sources of the rivers and streams, so impor- 
tant for the welfare of the country, and essential for the 
permanence of the systems of irrigations rapidly being intro- 
duced. Few recent actions of Congress are likely to have 
such valuable and far-reaching results. 

434. Natural Gas. — The fact that inflammable gas was 
generated in the earth has long been known. As early as 
1824, on the occasion of Lafayette's visit to this country, a 
house in Fredonia, New Y^ork, was illuminated by natural 
gas in his honor. At various places in Pennsylvania and 
Ohio this product was also made use of. But it was not 
until 1875 that it was used in making steel. Its adoption was 
slow. During the year 1878, while a well for oil was being 
sunk near Pittsburg, the whole apparatus was suddenly 
blown up, and great quantities of gas continued to escape 
from the opening. Pipes were laid from the well and the 
gas ignited, but no practical application was attempted for 
five years, when it was successfully used in the production of 
steel. In 1884 it was introduced through long pipes into 
Pittsburg, where it was employed for all domestic and manu- 
facturing purposes for which heat or light is needed. Many 
other wells were sunk in the Pittsburg district. At various 
other places between the Alleghanies and the Rockies reser- 
voirs of gas have been discovered by deep borings, and the 



INVENTION; INLAND COMMERCE. 403 

gas has been extensively used. Whether the supply will last 
for many years is quite problematical, as already in many 
wells the pressure has greatly diminished. 

435. Invention ; Transportation ; Inland Commerce. — The 

advance in the practical application of scientitic knowledge 
has continued to be very great. This is particularly true 
in regard to electricity, which is now used for illuminat- 
ing purposes and for power in a manner not before dreamed 
of. Thomas A. Edison, among others, has contributed greatly 
to this advance by his various discoveries and inventions. 
To him also is due the phonograph, an instrument by which 
sounds are recorded and reproduced at pleasure. Improve- 
ments in all branches of labor-saving machinery have also 
been numerous. The variety of goods manufactured has 
been greatly increased, and the beauty and excellence of the 
products have kept pace with the production. 

Nowhere has the growth of the country been more appar- 
ent than in the amount of the freight carried by the railroads, 
and in inland traffic on the rivers and great lakes, which 
latter now exceeds in value and importance and in tonnage 
the foreign commerce. The tonnage which now passes 
through the Sault Sainte Marie Canal, which joins Lake 
Superior and Huron, and is open only seven months of the 
year, is double the tonnage which passes through the Suez 
Canal during twelve months ; while in the year 1889 the 
amount of "freight passing Detroit was twice as great as the 
foreign trade of New York, and over two-thirds that for all 
our seaports together." The increase in the mileage of the 
railroads, the improvements in the facilities for transportation, 
in the efficiency of the motive power, and in the character 
of both the freight and passenger service, as well as in 
strength of the rails, stability of the roadbed and bridges, 



404 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

and in the elegance and size of the terminal stations, all have 
been great. 

436. The New South ; the Pacific Coast. — While the whole 
country has partaken of the growth and development, in few 
parts of the land has there been such material advance as in 
the South. It is indeed " a New South." Where years ago 
nothing was produced in quantity but cotton, tobacco, and 
naval stores, now iron, coal, and phosphate rock are mined in 
large quantities, and cotton and iron mills have sprung up in 
many places, while oranges from Florida, and green vegeta- 
bles from Plorida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Mississippi, and 
Virginia are sent north in carloads. Notwithstanding this 
diversity of interests, the cotton crop of 1891 was nearly 
double that of 1860; while from the cotton seed, which in 
former days was thrown away, and of which there is about 
one ton for every two bales of cotton, valuable ^il is pressed, 
and the cake which is left is used as food for cattle or as 
a fertilizer. New lines of railroad have been opened, and 
thereby easy and rapid communication with other parts of 
the Union secured. Thousands of travellers annually visit 
Florida and the health resorts abundant in the highlands of 
Georgia and the Carolinas. 

On the Pacific coast the growth and development liave been 
great also. In southern California the production of grapes, 
oranges, lemons, figs, nuts, raisins, plums, and fruit gener- 
ally has attained large proportions, and the native grown 
product is rapidly driving the European out of the market. 
The climate of southern California, on account of its great 
salubrit}^ attracts many visitors in search of health or pleas- 
ure. Oregon and particularly Washington liave rapidly in- 
creased in population, and have become large exporters of 
agricultural and other products. 



I 



EDUCATION. 405 

437. Education. — But a nation's growth and development 
should not only be on political and material lines, but on 
intellectual, social, and religious lines as well. It has been 
impracticable to do much more than to refer to these subjects 
from time to time ; but we have seen how deeply impressed 
the early colonists were with the importance of giving their 
children and youth a good education ; how with this object 
in view schools and colleges were established in various colo- 
nies, some of which, as the Collegiate School in New York 
City, founded in 1633 by the Dutch, the Boston Latin School, 
founded in 1635, and the William Penn Charter School, 
Philadelphia, founded in 1689, still flourish and attest the 
foresight and wisdom of the forefathers. As each new state 
has come into the Union, the education of the youth has 
claimed the serious and careful attention of her legislators, 
systems of education embracing schools, high schools, and 
colleges have been established in almost every common- 
wealth, and the people have cheerfully taxed themselves to 
support them. Not only has public support been ungrudg- 
ingly bestowed, but private benefactions have been unex- 
ampled. In no country have there been nobler foundations 
than those of Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore (1876) ; 
Tulane University, New Orleans (1884) ; Bryn Mawr Col- 
lege for Women, near Philadelphia (1885) ; Clark University, 
Worcester, Massachusetts (1889) ; Leland Stanford, Jr., Uni- 
versity, California (1891) ; Chicago University (1892). There 
have also been many endowments of professorships in col- 
leges, and many new academies, high schools, and industrial 
and technical schools founded ; among the latter are Pratt 
Institute, Brooklyn, and Drexel Institute, Philadelphia. 
The facilities for the higher education of women have been 
greatly extended ; most of the colleges and universities of 
the western states have been coeducational from their foun- 



406 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

dation ; eastern colleges are slowly opening their doors 
to women, while Vassar (1866), Smith (1871), Wellesle}" 
(1875), and Bryn Mawr (1885), all founded by private benefi- 
cence, offer educational advantages of the highest grade ex- 
clusively to women. In connection with education, there 
has been since 1889 great interest in what is known as Uni- 
versity Extension, the object of which is to spread education 
more widely by means of lectures, courses of reading, classes, 
and examinations. Nor should the Chautauqua Literary and 
Scientific Circle be omitted. This association was organized 
in 1878, for the " purpose of j^romoting habits of reading and 
study in nature, art, science, and in secular and sacred litera- 
ture in connection with the routine of daily life." Studies 
are carried on under the direction of competent teachers by 
means of correspondence, aided by the mutual interchange 
of views by those who are pursuing similar courses of read- 
ing or study in any given neighborhood. In the summer, 
instruction is given on the delightful shores of Chautauqua 
Lake in western New York, and at other places. Summer 
schools are also held at various places, chiefly for the benefit 
of teachers, or for purposes of special research or instruction. 
The importance of the physical training of the body has 
also been fully recognized, and great attention has been paid 
to the subject; large and thoroughly equipped gymnasiums 
have been erected for the purpose of carrying out exercises 
carefully arranged, with the intention not only of develop- 
ing the physical •[towers, but of remedying defects also. 

438. Libraries; Associations. — The desire to spread and to 
increase knowledge has also been shown by the increase in 
the number of general and special libraries, and by the great 
pains which have been taken to devise and carry out those 
systems of library administration best calculated to encour- 



ASSOCIATIONS; LITERATURE. 407 

age and facilitate reading and study. Man}^ libraries have 
been founded by private beneficence, such as the Newberr}^ 
Library, Chicago ; the As tor Library, New York ; and the 
Enoch Pratt Library, Baltimore. Others have been started 
or supported by the people, as the Public Libraries of Boston 
and Worcester, Massachusetts, and of Cincinnati and many 
other places. 

The spirit of investigation has shown itself from time to 
time in the United States by the formation of many societies 
whose purpose is to encourage study and research by pub- 
lishing reports, by mutual interchange of views, and in other 
ways. The oldest of these, the American Philosophical Soci- 
ety of Philadelphia, founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1743, 
is still in active operation. Another bod}^ the American Asso- 
ciation for the Advancement of Science (1848), holding its 
annual meeting at a different place each year, has done much 
to increase local interest in the subjects brought before it. 

The Smithsonian Institution at Washington founded in 
accordance with the bequest of a wealthy Englishman, is 
almost a government institution ; it has done much to further 
the advancement of science by the publication and distribu- 
tion of scientific books and papers. 

Since 1876 the increase in the number of associations formed 
for the encouragement of special lines of research is remarka- 
ble, and nearly all branches of knowledge are represented. 

439. Literature. — During the earlier years of the American 
colonies there was little time to devote to anything which 
was not obviously practical in its application, and conse- 
quently the purely literary man was almost unknown. To 
the colonists of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries two 
subjects, however, were of transcendent importance, — relig- 
ion and politics; and works on these two subjects were 



408 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



abundant, particularly in the field of politics. The political 
pamphlets and addresses issued from the colonial press of 
the eighteenth century are not surpassed in vigor by those 
published in England, or, indeed, upon the continent of 
Europe, during the same period. The names of John Dick- 
inson, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, 
Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington are deservedly 
held in high esteem for their writings in this field. 

General literature was at a low ebb for a long time, and it 
was not until Charles Brockden Brown published his novels 
during the last years of the eighteenth century, that there 
was much indication of a literature that could be called 
American. William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878), with his 

" Thanatopsis " (1817), was the 
forerunner of poets soon to fol- 
low. The founding of The 
North American Review (1815) 
was also an indication of a 
change. James Fenimore 
Cooper (1789-1851), who pub- 
lished his first novel in 1821, 
showed not only that America 
could produce writers, but that 
in the new world were scenes 
and characters admirably fitted 
for their pen. Washington 
Irving (1783-1859), by his 
graceful essays and sketches and 
his pure English, did much to raise the estimation in which 
American literature was lield, both at home and abroad. 
About 1840 new writers came into prominence: among them 
Henry Wads worth Longfellow (1807-1882), whose works are 
familiar the land over, and also John Greenleaf VVliittier 




EDGAR A. POE. 



GENERAL LITERATURE. 



409 




HENRY W. LONGFELLOW. 



(1807-1892), the Quaker poet, whose ballads and poems of 
nature are truly American in subject and in sympathy. 
Oliver Wendell Holmes (born 
in 1809), the genial essayist, 
humorist, and poet ; James Rus- 
sell Lowell (1819-1891), the 
satirist, the critic, and the poet ; 
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804- 
1864), America's greatest ro- 
mancer ; Edgar Allan Poe 
(1811-1849), the author of 
weird poems and romances; 
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803- 
1882), the philosopher, poet, 
and essayist, — showed that in 
purely literary work America 
was accomplishing much. George Bancroft (1800-1891), 
with his History of the United States, the first volume of 

which was published in 1834; 
^.'^^:>r^^^^.^. William H. Prescott (1796- 

1859), with his histories of the 
Spanish power in Spain and in 
the New World ; Richard Hil- 
dreth (1807-1865), with his 
History of the United States ; 
John Lothrop Motley (1814- 
1877), with his works on the 
Netherlands; Francis Park- 
man (1823-1893), with his se- 
ries of volumes on " France 
and England in North Amer- 
ica," besides many other writers, — show that in the field 
of historical research the writers of America take a high 




NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. 



410 



HISTORY OF THE UNI i ED STATES. 



rank. It would be equally true to make similar statements 
in regard to all departments of knowledge, in all of which 
the writers of America now take their stand alongside of 
those of Europe. 

One of the striking features of the recent literature of the 
Fnited States is the appearance of many able writers in the 

southern states who have entered 
ever}^ field and whose novels and 
dialect stories are written in a 
style peculiarly their own. 

The magazines of the United 
States, of which Harper's^ The 
Century^ and Scribner^s are ex- 
amples, lead the world in beauty 
of execution and of illustration, 
and largely through the encour- 
agement of their publishers the 
American wood-engraver has at- 
tained a position unsurpassed. 

Tlie newspapers of America 
have multiplied wonderfully, and 
their scope has been Avidened until in the daily press almost 
every subject that is likely to interest readers is treated of 
by specialists, while at the same time no pains or expense is 
spared to furnish the latest and most accurate news. The 
great dailies of New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston 
are marvels of enterprise. 




JOHN G. WHITTIER. 



i 



CHAPTER XXI. 

SOCIAL AFFAIRS ; POLITICS ; DIPLOMACY. 
REFERENCES. 

General. — Appleton's Annual Cyclopciedias ; E. B. Andrews, The History 
of the Last Quarter-Century in the United States, 1870-1895, finely illus- 
trated (this work is a panorama of events rather than a history); The 
Statesman's Year Book; The Tribune Almanacs; The World Almanacs; 
Review of Reviews ; Current History ; Political Science Quarterly, Review 
of Political Events in June and December of each year; the current 
periodicals. 

440. Wilson Bill; Senate Bill. (1894.) — A part of the 
Democratic programme after the success in the elections of 
1892 (Sect. 426) was the revision of the tariff. At the first 
session of the fifty-third Congress William L. Wilson, Chair- 
man of the Committee on Ways and Means, introduced a 
new Tariff Bill, called " An Act to Reduce Taxation and 
Provide Revenue for the Government, and for Other Pur- 
poses." Its important features were the extensive use of 
the principle of ad valorem duties,^ the general reduction in 
rates, and a tax on all incomes exceeding 14000. When the 
act came before the Senate it was discussed at length, and 
was very much altered. This " Senate Bill," as it is prop- 
erly called, was finally accepted by the House of Repre- 
sentatives. The President was unwilling to veto the bill, 
and thus leave the McKinley tariff in force, and yet he 
could not sign it without approving measures against Avhich 

1 Duties levied according to the value of the goods. 
411 



412 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

he had spoken strongly. He accordingly allowed the bill, 
which was pleasing to few, to become a law without his 
signature (Constitution, Art. 1, Sect. 7 (2)). The Supreme 
Court decided that the income tax was unconstitutional, so 
the expected receipts from this tax were cut off, and the 
revenues of the government fell below the expenditures. 

441. Pullman and Railroad Strikes ; Coal Miners' Strikes. 
(1894.) — There were many labor troubles in 1894. A 
strike begun by the employees of the great car works at 
Pullman, a suburb of Chicago, was one of the most serious 
that has occurred in the United States. The Pullman 
Company was urged by a committee of the men, and by 
many outsiders, some of them prominent citizens, to submit 
the question at issue to arbitration, but refused, saying, 
"The Company has nothing to arbitrate." Many of the 
men were members of the "American Railway Union," an 
organization of railroad employees. This union made the 
cause of the strikers its own, and passed a resolution that 
unless the Pullman Company would agree to arbitrate, all 
members of the Union should, after a certain date, refuse to 
handle Pullman cars or any trains of v/hich Pullman cars 
formed a part. The company declined to recede from its 
position ; the " boycott " of its cars began, and soon became 
widespread, as the railroad companies refused to stop 
running PuUman cars. Nearly every railroad west of the 
State of Ohio was more or less affected. The stoppage of 
trains obstructed the carrying of the mails, and interfered 
with interstate commerce. The injunctions of the United 
States courts requiring the strikers to cease this interference 
were disregarded, and the President sent troops from the 
regular army for the purpose of restoring the mail service 
and enforcing federal laws. Meanwhile, in spite of the 



NEW YORK CITY REFORMS; " COXEY'S ARMY." 413 

presence of state and federal troops and the police, an angry 
crowd destroyed property, demolished railroad cars, and 
tore up or rendered useless miles of railroad track. Con- 
flicts took place between the troops and the crowd, and a 
number of lives were lost. Some of the officers of the 
American Railway Union were sent to jail for refusing to 
obey the orders of the courts. At length the strike came to 
an end, but the losses resulting from the troubles were many 
millions of dollars. ^ 

Earlier in the year a strike begun by the coke-burners in 
Pennsylvania spread to the miners in the coal regions, until 
130,000 men or more were involved. This strike lasted 
several months, was accompanied by rioting and loss of life, 
and also cost several millions of dollars. 

442. New York City Reforms ; "Coxey's Army." (1894.) — 

In 1894 the New York Legislature, com23elled by public 
opinion, appointed a committee to investigate the New York 
City police department. As a result of the facts brought to 
light, and of a sentiment which had been growing in the 
community for some time, a reform ticket was chosen at the 
next election by a large majority. This success had much 
influence in furthering reform all over the country. 

A strange movement took place in the same year. Large 
numbers of workingmen and tramps started from points in 
the West for Washington, with the idea of demanding help 
from Congress. Generally known, from the chief leader, as 
" Coxey's Army," they called themselves "Commonwealers." 
The " army " was greatly diminished in numbers before it 
reached Washington, where two or three of the leaders 
were arrested for violating local regulations. The move- 
ment soon came to an end. 



k 



1 There was also (during the strike serious rioting in California. 



414 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



443. Anti lottery Bill ; National Military Park ; Atlanta Ex- 
position. (1895.) — In 1895 Congress passed a new bill for 
the suppression of lotteries (Sect. 417) by forbidding the 
transmission of lottery tickets, or anything relating to lot- 
teries, through the mails, or by means of national or inter- 
state commerce. 

In September, 1895, tAvo notable events took place in the 
South : the dedication of the '' National Chickamauofa and 
Chattanooga Military Park," and the opening of the " Cot- 
ton States and International Exposition " at Atlanta. 

The Military Park consists of about ten square miles, and 
includes the site of the great battles fought in 1863 (Sect. 

326). The ground Avas pur- 
chased jointly by the United 
States and the States of Georgia 
and Tennessee. At the dedica- 
tion there was a fraternal re- 
union of United States and 
Confederate officers and troops. 
The Atlanta Exposition Avas 
opened on the 18th of Sep- 
tember. It ranks next to the 
Centennial and the Columbian 
Expositions as the most success- 
ful held in the United States. 
The wonderful progress made 
since 1865 by the " New South " 
has nowhere been so clearly 



*^fei 



^^^ 




A KIOWA CHIEF. 



shown. 



444. The Indians; Utah. (1896.) — After many years of 
difficulty with the Indian tribes. Congress in 1887 passed 
the '' General Allotment" or '^ Dawes Act," the main 



THE INDIANS; UTAH; NOMINATIONS. 415 

features of which became the settled policy of the govern- 
ment. These are to abolish tribal relations, to encourage 
the Indians to receive individual allotments of land, to 
adopt the habits of civilized life, and as soon as practicable 
to become citizens of the United States. 

Utah having complied with an act of Congress, one of the 
provisions of which required the absolute prohibition of 
polygamy, was admitted to the Union January 4, 1896, 
making the forty-fifth State. 

445. Republican Nominations. (1896.) — In the elections of 
1894 the Republicans made great gains, and in the House of 
Representatives their majority was 133. Thomas B. Reed 
of Maine was chosen Speaker (Sect. 415). As the campaign 
of 1896 drew near, it became evident that the free coinage of 
silver would be made a leading issue. 

The Republican convention was held at St. Louis, and 
William McKinley of Ohio was nominated for President and 
Garret A. Hobart of New Jersey for Vice-President. The 
most important paragraph of the platform was one in favor 
of the maintenance of the present gold standard for the 
currency. A dramatic incident of the convention was the 
withdrawal of a few delegates who upheld the free coin- 
age of silver, and refused to continue longer with their 
party. 

446. Democratic Nominations. (1896.) — The Democratic 
convention met at Chicago. Among other things, the plat- 
form advocated the free coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 
to 1.^ It also "denounced the arbitrary interference by 
federal authorities in local affairs as a violation of the Con- 

1 That is a silver dollar should weigh sixteen times as much as a gold 
dollar. 



416 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

stitution of the United States, and a crime against free 
institutions," and especially objected to the use of injunc- 
tions by the judiciary. A striking incident of this con- 
vention was an impassioned speech by William J. Bryan, a 
delegate from Nebraska. This speech led to his nomination 
for President. Arthur Sewall of Maine was nominated for 
Vice-President. 

447. Populist and Other Conventions. (1896. ) — The " Popu- 
list " or People's party convention when it met accepted the 
Democratic candidate for President, but nominated Thomas 
E. Watson of Georgia for Vice-President. 

The Prohibition party at its convention divided, and each 
wing nominated its own candidates. The Socialist Labor 
party also nominated candidates. 

There was so much dissatisfaction with the platform and 
the candidates of the Chicago convention that many promi- 
nent Democratic newspapers rejected them and declared 
for the gold standard, and thousands of Democrats did the 
same. Later a convention representing the gold standard 
Democrats met at Indianapolis and nominated as candidates 
John M. Palmer of Illinois and Simon B. Buckner of Ken- 
tucky. The delegates adopted the name of the " National 
Democratic Party." 

448. The Presidential Campaig^n. (1896.) — The Presidential 
campaign of 1890 was one of the most exciting and impor- 
tant that has ever taken place. It was a contest respecting 
principles, and party platforms never received more atten- 
tion. The amount of financial and political literature dis- 
tributed and read was enormous, and political speeches 
almost without number were delivered. The co-operation 
of very many gold standard Democrats greatly increased the 



VENEZUELAN BOUNDARY. 



417 



Republican strength, and McKinley and Hobart were elected 
by a large majority of the electoral vote, and by a plurality 
of over 600,000 of the popular vote. 



449. Venezuelan Boundary. (1895-1896.) — There had been 
for many years a dispute between Great Britain and Vene- 
zuela regarding the boundary 
dividing the latter from British 
Guiana. Venezuela wished to 
submit the boundary question to 
arbitration, but Great Britain 
refused to do so. In July, 1895, 
Mr. Olney, the United States 
Secretary of State, addressed a 
note to the British Government 
stating that the United States 
was opposed to a forcible in- 
crease of the British possessions 
in America, referring to the 
Monroe Doctrine (Sect. 208) in 
support of his position, and urg- 
ing the British government to submit the matter to arbitra- 
tion. A reply was received late in November declining to do 
this. On receipt of this note President Cleveland promptly 
sent to Congress a special message on the subject. The 
apparently warlike tone he used at once threw the whole 
country into a state of great excitement. The President 
having suggested in his message the appointment of a com- 
mission 'Ho determine what is the true divisional line be- 
tween Venezuela and British Guiana," Congress authorized 
such action, and the President appointed five commissioners, 
who entered at once upon their duties. The agitation calmed 
down, and negotiations with Great Britain went on. In 




WILLIAM MCKINLEY. 



418 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

November, 1896, the British government consented to arbi- 
trate upon a basis honorable to all parties. 

The excitement which accompanied the Venezuelan dis- 
cussion so aroused the two countries to the danger of sud- 
den quarrels, and to the inexpediency of resorting to war, 
that a treaty was drafted for the creation of a tribunal of 
arbitration to settle disputes which may arise in future 
between Great Britain and the United States. 

This treaty met with much popular approval, but the Sen- 
ate failed to ratify it, and the matter was dropped. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

THE WAR WITH SPAIN AND TERRITORIAL EXPANSION.^ 
REFERENCES. 

General. — Appleton's Annual Cyclopaedia, 1898 ; Statesman's Year-book, 
1899 ; Tribune Almanacs ; World Almanacs ; Current Events ; Harper's Pic- 
torial History of the War with Spain ; H. C. Lodge, War with Spain ; R. H. 
Titherington, History of the Spanish-American War ; R. H. Davis, Cuban and 
Porto Rican Campaigns ; J. R. Spears, Our Navy in the War with Spain ; 
J. D. Richardson, Messages and Papers of the Presidents, vol. x. ; H. H. 
Bancroft, The New Pacific ; Atlantic Monthly ; Century Magazine ; Harper's 
Magazine ; McClure's Magazine ; The Outlook ; Review of Reviews ; Scrib- 
ner's Magazine ; C. Morris, Our Island Empire. 

Special. — G. Kennan, Campaigning in Cuba ; R. B. Porter, Industrial 
Cuba ; R. T. Hill, Cuba and Porto Rico ; W. Dinwiddle, Porto Rico ; A. G. 
Robinson, Porto Rico of To-day ; D. C. Worcester, the Philippines ; A. S. 
Twombly, Hawaii and its People; E. Bicknell, Territorial Acquisitions of 
the United States. 

450. Spain ; The Cuban auestion. (1800-1899.) — Early in the 
nineteenth century, Spain began to lose the vast American 
empire which she had held for nearly three hundred years. 
By 1825, she retained only Cuba, Porto Rico, and a few 
small islands near them. These islands would have been a 
source of wealth and power \o Spain had they been fairly 
ruled and liberally treated. But she treated them selfishly, 
as she did all her colonial possessions. 

Cuba, the "-Pearl of the Antilles," has dense forests, is 
rich in mineral wealth, and is wonderfully fertile. It is an 
island which any nation might be proud to own. But Spain's 

* Copyright, 1900, by D. C. Heath & Co. 
419 



420 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

treatment of Cuba was particularly selfish. All offices of 
profit were given to Spaniards, and little of the money that 
was wrung from the heavily overtaxed islanders was spent 
in the island. 

The Spaniards in Cuba were, for the most part, men with- 
out families who were in Cuba solely for the sake of personal 
gain. They treated the Creoles^ with a contempt which 
was matched only by the hatred of the Creoles toward their 
oppressors. 

This feeling of hatred toward Spain grew stronger, and a 
large number of Cubans waited only for a good chance to 
break into open rebellion. A revolution in Spain, in 1868, 
gave the wished-for opportunity, and an insurrection broke 
out in Cuba which lasted for ten years. The peace of 1878 
wliich followed, amounted to little more than a truce. 

Spain did not keep her promises, or cease her acts of 
oppression. " The island continued to be utterly, hope- 
lessly, and shamelessly misgoverned." In 1895 there was 
a new insurrection. At first Spain looked upon it as 
little more than a riot, but the revolt spread. Larger 
forces were sent to Cuba, but without avail. The insur- 
gent Cubans declared that they would rather be extermi- 
nated than yield. 

Spain accomplished little by fighting; the insurgents rarely 
took the offensive, and generally avoided a conflict, prefer- 
ring a guerilla warfare. They were kept well informed of 
the movements of the Spanish troops by means of spies and 
sympathizers. To prevent the insurgents from getting in- 
formation, and to make it more difficult for them to obtain 
food, Captain-General Weyler issued his reconcentration 
order. The purpose of this order was to collect the people 

1 A Creole in the West Indies is a native Spanish-American, usually a 
descendant of the earlier settlers. 



WAR WITH SPAIN AND TERRITORIAL EXPANSION. 421 

of a district near a town or place where Spanish troops were 
stationed, and in this way have them under close guard. 
In carrying out this order, innocent farmers and planters 
were driven from their homes and collected in or around 
the towns. Their houses Avere burned and their plantations 
Avere laid waste. Unable to get sufficient food and shelter, 
and herded together like cattle, thousands of these helpless 
people died of hunger and disease. ^ 

451. The United States and Cuba. (1825-1897.) The"Virgin- 
ius." (1873.) — ^The United States has always been deeply 
interested in the affairs of Cuba. Lying at the mouth of 
the Gulf of Mexico, and only a few miles from Key West, 
the island could be made an enemy's base for attack in time 
of Avar. In time of peace its productions Avould naturally 
seek a market in the United States. 

From time to time the annexation of Cuba had been pro- 
posed, and more than one of the presidents of the United 
States had thought Avell of it. President Polk, in 1848, had 
offered Spain §100,000,000 for the island, but the offer was 
promptly rejected. 

The most unfriendly act of the United States tOAvard 
Spain Avas the " Ostend Manifesto," issued in 1854, already 
described (Sect. 284). Time and again, however, the United 

1 It is estimated that by March, 1897, 300,000 persons were thus iierded 
within the towns, or in their immediate neigliborhood ; and even the Span- 
iards admitted that more than one-half of these perished. "This," said 
President McKinley, "was not civihzed warfare. It was extermination." 
It is tliouglit that, in all, 250,000 people perished as the result of this order. 
Those treated in this manner wei'e called " reconcentrados." The distress 
in Cuba was not, by any means, wholly caused by this barbarous policy. It 
must be remembered that many plantations were laid waste by the war and 
that the industries of the island were prostrated. The devastation was the 
work of insurgents as well as of Spaniards. 



422 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

States held aloof from interfering even when the provocation 
was great. 1 Filibustering expeditions from the United States 
(Sect. 283) were stopped, and great efforts were made to 
keep the peace and to be a good neighbor. 

While the rebellion had lasted in Cuba, 1868-1878, there 
were many times when the patience of the United States was 
sorely tried by the injury to her trade, and by the atrocities 
committed in the island. In October, 1873, the steamer Vir- 
ginius^ sailing under tlie American flag, was captured at sea 
by a Spanish war vessel, and taken into the harbor of San- 
tiago de Cuba. Here fifty-three of her passengers and crew 
were shot.^ 

The excitement in the United States over this occurrence 
was great, and it seemed at one time as if war might result. 
Upon a protest having l^een made by the United States, 
Spain gave up the Virgin ms^ and paid a large sum for the 
benefit of the families of the Americans who had been shot. 

452. Affairs in Cuba ; American Interests ; American Pro- 
tests. (1897.) — Americans had invested large sums of money 
in sugar plantations and other interests in Cuba. The trade 
of the United States with Cuba grew to large proportions. 
As a result of the rebellion of 1895, and the policy of de- 
struction followed by Spain, a vast amount of property belong- 
ing to Americans was destroyed, and the profitable trade 
with the island ruined. 

Popular feeling in the United States was deeply moved 
by the stories of cruelty in the island. In accordance witli 

1 John Quincy Adams, and President Grant in 1875, offered to mediate 
— the only instances of the kind up to 1894. 

2 There was some doubt whether the registry of the Virginius had not been 
obtained by fraud. It was a fact that more than once, between 1870 and 
1873, she had landed men and supplies for the rebels. The action of the 
Spanish authorities at Santiago was, however, without warrant. 



WAR WITH SPAIN AND TERRITORIAL EXPANSION. 423 

this feeling President Cleveland, in April, 1896, offered to 
mediate between Spain and the Cubans, but his offer was 
declined. 

In 1897 the Spanish Prime Minister was assassinated at 
Madrid and a new ministry came into power. Upon the 
protests of the United States, General Weyler was recalled 
from Cuba. Spain promised to make reforms, to give the 
Cubans some degree of self-government, and to release 
Americans imprisoned in Cuba. This last was done, and 
Captain-deneral Blanco was sent out as governor. 

The Cubans, however, had no confidence in Spain, and 
refused to accept anything short of independence. 




U. S. BATTLESHIP "MAINE." 
From a ithotograph, by permission of the Soule Photograph Co. 



453. The Destruction of the *' Maine " ; Report of the Court 
of Inquiry. (1898.) — The United States in January, 1898, 
sent the battleship Maine on a friendly naval visit to Havana. 
She had been lying in the harbor three weeks, when 
about 10 o'clock in the evening of P^ebruary 15 she was 
destroyed by an explosion. Two officers and 258 of her 



424 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

men perished. At once intense excitement prevailed in 
the United States, and the cry, '' Remember the Maine!'' was 
heard everywhere. The President appointed four olhcers 
of the navy as a board of inquiry. After careful examina- 
tion they reported, March 21, that tlie Maine had been blown 
up by a mine placed under the ship, and that no evidence 
was found as to who Avas responsible for the disaster. 

The Spanish government claimed that the explosion had 
taken place inside the vessel, and proposed that the whole 
question be left to a board of arbitration. To this offer the 
United States made no reply. 

454. President McKinley's Message to Congress, April, 1898. 
— Meantime affairs in Cuba had not improved. President 
-jNIcKinley spoke of them as "intolerable." Unless the 
United States should intervene, it seemed likely that the 
Cubans would be exterminated. 

President McKinley, accordingly, in April, 1898, sent a 
sjjecial message to Congress in which he said : " It is plain 
that it (the insurrection) cannot be extinguished by present 
methods. In the name of humanity, in the name of civiliza- 
tion, in the behalf of endangered American interests, which 
give us the right and duty to speak, and to act, the war in 
Cuba must stop." The President asked Congress to give 
him power to use measures to end tlie hostilities between 
Spain and the Cubans. 

455. Resolutions regarding Cuba passed by Congress (1898) ; 
Declaration of War. (1898.) — On April 10, Congress passed a 
series of resolutions declaring : " (1) That tlie people of the 
island of Cuba are and of right ought to be free and inde- 
pendent. (2) That it is the duty of the United States to 
demand that Spain should give up Cuba and witlidraw its 



WAR WITH SPAIN AND TERRITORIAL EXPANSION. 425 

forces from the island. (3) That the President is directed 
and empowered to use all the forces of the United States 
and to call out the militia in order to carry out these resolu- 
tions. (4) That the United States disclaims any intention 
of control over said island except for the pacification thereof 
and asserts its determination, when that is accomplished, to 
leave the government and control of the island to its people." 
These resolutions were cabled to the American Minister in 
Madrid, who was directed to inform the Spanisli government 
that an answer must be given by April 23. Before he could 
see the Spanish authorities, his passports were sent to him. 




MORRO CASTLE, OPPOSITE HAVANA. 
(From a photograph.) 

This action meant that Spain would have no intercourse with 
the United States. It meant war. Congress, April 25, de- 
clared that war existed between the United States and Spain. 

456. Public Opinion in the United States ; Preparation for the 
War. (1898.) — Public opinion in the United States had been 
much divided in regard to the Cuban difficulties. Many 
persons felt that, while Avar was almost sure to come, wisdom 
required delay. The army and navy were not ready and 
the rainy season was almost at hand, when the Cuban climate 
would be very hurtful to Americans. 

Some thought all efforts for a peaceful solution of the 
troubles had not been tried. Others believed that Avar 
Avould be unjustifiable. But the division was in no sense sec- 



426 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

tioiial. When the war broke out, from all parts of the 
country men enlisted in the army and navy. More than at 
any time since before the Civil AVar, North and South, 
East and West stood side by side in support of the govern- 
ment. 

Congress gave the Secretary of the Treasury the authority 
to borrow 1200,000,000. When the loan was advertised, 
more than seven times the amount called for was offered. 

This loan would supply funds for a short time, but much 
more would be needed. Congress, tlierefore, passed a '' War 
Revenue Act " like the Internal Revenue Acts of the Civil 
War ; this act provided for taxes on numerous articles. The 
tax is paid in many cases by means of stamps, which must be 
bought of the government. Patent medicines, toilet articles, 
etc., must bear stamps, before they can be sold, while bank 
checks, mortgages, and many other documents must be stamped 
to be legal. Heavy taxes were also placed on legacies. This 
act has been very successful in bringing in a large sum of 
money ever}^ year. 

457. The Navy ; Blockade of Cuba ; United States Coast Defences. 
(1898.) — It was clear that most of the fighting would take 
place outside the United States and that the navy would take 
an important part. The President issued a proclamation 
declaring the blockade of a large part of the coast of Cuba. 
The carrying out of this order was given to Captain (after- 
ward Admiral) William T. Sampson. In anticipation of an 
attack upon the Atlantic coast of the United States, a squadron 
of war vessels, under Captain (afterward Admiral) Winfield 
S. Schley, was stationed at Fortress Monroe. Meanwhile the 
swiftest vessels in the navy patrolled the coast to give warning 
of the coming of any Spanish ships. Every harbor from 
Texas to Maine was laid with submarine mines to be used 



WAR WITH SPAIN AND TERRITORIAL EXPANSION. 427 

in case of attack. Old forts were manned, guns placed in 
position, and a watch kept for the approach of the enemy. 



458. War in the Pacific ; Dewey's Victory at Manila. (1898.) — 

When war was declared, Commodore George Dewey was 
in command of the United States 
Asiatic squadron then lying at 
Hong-Kong, China. He was or- 
dered by cable to proceed at once 
to the Philippine Islands, and 
" capture or destroy the Spanish 
fleet " which Avas there. 

He entered Manila Bay early 
Sunday morning, May 1. The 
Spanish fleet lying in the harl)or 
was protected by the guns of the 
batteries at Cavite, a few miles 
from Manila. 

The Spaniards knew that he 
had left Hong-Kong, but he came 
sooner than he was expected and 

caught them unaware. He had planned to do this so that he 
might choose his OAvn time for attack. As soon as he reached 
Manila Bay he opened upon the Spanish fleet a terrible fire 
of shot and shell. His fire was answered vigorously from the 
Avar vessels and the shore batteries, but the guns of the 
enemy Avere not Avell aimed and their shot did little damage. 
After a sharp fight of about tAvo hours, DcAA^ey AvithdrcAv his 
fleet, in order, it is said, to give his men time for breakfast, 
but more likely to see hoAv his ammunition Avas holding out. 

After three hours he returned to the attack. By this 
time most of the Spanish vessels Avere in flames. An hour 
later the Spanish "batteries Avere silenced, and the ships 




ADMIRAL DEWEY. 
(From a photograph. 1S99.) 



428 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



sunk or burned, and deserted." In the conflict the Spaniards 
lost every vessel, and hundreds of men were killed, wounded, 
and missing. No American Avas killed, and but six wounded ; 
while no American vessel was seriously damaged.^ 

The battle of Manila is one of the great naval actions of 
history ; never before had so much been won with so little 
loss of life and ships. Congress made Dewey a rear admiral, 
gave him a vote of tlianks, and voted him a sword. ^ Rarely 



^■A -..^:. 



-«^5^3~S""~- 







MANILA AND THE PASIG RIVER. 

Showing the Magellan Monument and the Ktone Bridge connecting the walled city 

with Einondo. 



has fame come to a man so suddenly. On the morning of 
May 1, few outside the official circles knew of him. On the 
next day the. civilized Avorld was full of his exploit. 

1 The American fleet was much smaller than the Spanish, but the shijis 
were larger and more formidable. On the other hand, the Spanish ships 
were protected by the land batteries. 

2 Soon after the war, Dewey was made admiral, the highest rank in the 
navy. 



WAR WITH SPAIN AND TERRITORIAL EXPANSION. 429 

Dewey could easily have taken the city of Manila, but 
as he had not force enough to hold it, he waited for more 
troops. Meantime he blockaded the harbor. 

459. Admiral Cervera's Fleet; Santiago Harbor; Hobson's 
Feat, (1898.) — The destruction of the Spanish fleet at 
Manila relieved the Pacific coast of the United States from 
fear of attack. The Spanish Atlantic fleet, however, was at 
the Cape Verde Islands, and no one knew where it might 
go. Would Admiral Cervera, the commander, sail to the 
Atlantic coast to bombard one of the American cities ? 
Would he go direct to Cuba to break the blockade and 
support the Spanish troops on the islands ? Would he 
attack the American fleet ? Would he try to meet and 
destroy the United States battleship Oregon^ which was 
on her way from San Francisco to the Atlantic coast ? ^ 

Cervera sailed from the Cape Verde Islands, and the first 
that was heard of him was that he had reached Martinique ; 
then he went to CuraQao, a Dutch island off the coast of 
Venezuela. 

Where Cervera would go next it was impossible to tell. 
Swift steamers went up and dow^n the Caribbean Sea to 
search for him, but nothing was certainly known of his 
movements until it was learned that he had put into the 
harbor of Santiago, on the southern coast of Cuba. Here he 
was at once blockaded by the fleets of Sampson and Schley. 

1 The battleship Oregon was stationed on the Pacific coast, but after 
the destruction of the Maine^ it was thought best to order her to the 
Atlantic. She sailed from San Francisco March 19, 1898, on her voyage 
round Cape Horn, — a distance of about 15,000 miles. It was feared she might 
be attacked before her commander knew that war had begun, and the news 
of war was telegraphed to every port at which she might call. She made 
the long voyage in safety, reaching Florida May 25, and at once took her 
place in the attacking fleet and did effective service. 



430 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The entrance to the harbor is through a narrow, winding 
channel, from whose shores rise lofty hills. It was not un- 
likely that Cervera might slip out on some dark night, or 
escape while the American ships Avere driven away by a 
storm. 

In order to obstruct tlie channel it was determined to sink 
a vessel in the narrowest part. This difficult feat Avas en- 
trusted to Ensign Richmond P. Hobson and six men. They 
jDcrformed their dangerous task, notwithstanding a severe 
fire from the Spanish land batteries. They were captured, 
but Admiral Cervera was so moved by their bravery that he 
sent word to the Americans that they were safe and w^ould 
be well treated. 1 

460. Santiago Campaign ; El Caney and San Juan. (1898.) — 

Meanwhile the blockade of Cuba had been kept up, and 
preparations made for a land campaign in the island. 

Troops were hurried from different points in the United 
States to the Atlantic seaboard, and great camps established 
at various places for drilling and organizing the volunteers. 
About two hundred tliousand men entered the service ; 
young men of all ranks, and also veterans of the Federal 
and Confederate armies, quickly volunteered. ^ 

1 Just as Hobson was about to sink the Merrimac, the vessel chosen, 
a shot from the Spaniards broke her rudder chains so that she could not be 
steered. Owing to this fact, she sank too far within the harbor, and failed 
to obstruct the channel, as had been planned. Hobson and his companions, 
some weeks later, were exchanged for Spanish prisoners. 

2 Soon after the beginning of hostilities, Colonel Leonard Wood, since 
General, and Theodore Roosevelt, since Governor of New York, but then 
Assistant Secretary of the U. S. Navy, volunteered to aid in raising a regi- 
ment of cavalry. Both were well known in the West, and many "cow 
boys " from the plains and from Texas joined the regiment, and many wealthy 
young men from the East. This body was known as "Roosevelt's Rough 
Riders." It was very efficient in the campaign. 



WAR WITH SPAIN AND TERRITQIUAL EXPANSION. 431 

Santiago was already blockaded by sea, and it was deter- 
mined to attack it by land. An army of sixteen thousand 
men under General William R. Shafter was landed not many 
miles from the city, and the advance against the enemy was 
almost immediately begun. 



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SAN JUAN HARBOR. 
View from Casa Bianca, Ponce de Leon's House. 

The conditions were very unfavorable : in this tropical 
climate, the heat was terrible ; the close, rank undergrowth 
made advance slow, and hid the enemy from view ; the 
bad roads made it difficult to move the heavy guns, and 
prevented the prompt forwarding of food supplies. In ad- 
dition to all this, the rainy season liad begun. 

A vigorous attack, July 1 and 2, upon the Spanish at El 
Caney and San Juan resulted in victory for the Americans. 



432 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

461. Destruction of Cervera's Fleet. (1898.)— The Spanish 
troops having been forced back, an assault upon the city was 
planned. Admiral Sampson left the fleet which was blockad- 
ing the harbor, to consult with General Shafter for a com- 
bined attack b}^ land and sea. 

On Sunday morning, July 3, Admiral Cervera, under 
orders from the Spanish government, made a desperate dash 
out of the harbor, and put to sea. At once the American 
fleet under Commodore Schley opened tire and pursued the 
Spanish vessels, which had turned toward the west. Shot 
and shell were poured upon the flying ships. Cervera be- 
lieved that his vessels were so much swifter than the Ameri- 
can ships that there was some hope that he might escape. 
It was a vain hope; in less than four hours every Spanish 
ship was destroyed. Hundreds of the Spaniards were killed, 
and Admiral Cervera and about 1200 of his men were made 
prisoners. The Americans lost one killed and three 
wounded, and their vessels suffered little injury.^ 

462. Surrender of Santiago ; Porto Rico Campaign ; Spain sues 
for Peace ; Fall of Manila. (1898.) — The city of Santiago was 
now untenable. Cuban insurgents held the roads by which 
reenforcements might come; the American lines were close to 
the city ; Cervera's fleet was destroyed and the United States 
fleet blockaded the harbor. The Spanish general surrendered 
tlie city July 17, Avith all tlie eastern part of tlie island. 

Porto Rico was tlie next point of attack. ^ Tlie direction 
of the campaign was given to Major-general Miles, the 

1 The Spanish fleet consisted of four vessels, none of which were battle 
ships, and two torpedo-boat destroyers. The American fleet consisted, at 
the time of the action, of eight vessels, four of them battle ships. Cervera's 
only hope lay in speed, and he knew that most of his fleet would probably 
be lost, but he was compelled to obey orders. 

2 Admiral Sampson had already bombarded San Juan on the northern 
coast, but the action was indecisive. 



WAR WITH SPAIN AND TERRITORIAL EXPANSION. 433 

commander in chief. Landing on the sonthern coast, 
where he was not expected, lie met with little opposition. 
The Spanish forces retreated, and the people welcomed the 
United States troops. The conqnest of the island was being 
pnshed forward successfully and rapidly, when news of peace 
stopped all fighting. 

On July 26, the Spanish government, through the French 
ambassador at Washington, asked upon what terms the 
United States would make peace. It was more than two 
weeks before Spain would agree to the terms offered. Mean- 
time Admiral Dewey was blockading Manila harbor and 
waiting for reenforcements. It was no easy task to secure 
on the Pacific coast transports enough to carry the large 
body of troops needed. Though the first body of men had 
left San Francisco May 25, it was tlie last of July before 
the commanding officer. Major-general Wesley Merritt, and 
Admiral Dewey thought it safe to make a land attack upon 
the city, and it was not until August 13 that the city sur- 
rendered. 

463. Terms of Peace ; Treaty signed December 10, 1898. — On 

August 12, M. Cambon, the French ambassador at Wash- 
ington, on behalf of vSpain signed the protocol or first di-aft 
of a treaty of peace. Orders were at once given to cease 
hostilities, but before the order could reach the Philippines, 
Manila had fallen. 

The Peace Commissioners appointed by Spain and the 
United States met at Paris in October (1898) to discuss 
the terms of peace. It was not until the 10th of December 
that the Spaniards could agree to the terms proposed by 
the United States and sign the treaty. 

The most important provisions of the treaty are: (1) Spain 
relinquishes all claim of sovereignty over and title to Cuba. 



434 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

(2) Spain cedes to the United States the island of Porto 
Rico and other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in 
the West Indies, and the island of Guam in the Mariannes 
or Ladrones. (3) Spain cedes to the United States the 
archipelago known as the Philippine Islands. The United 
States will pay to Spain the sum of twenty million dollars 
within three months after the exchange of the ratifications 
of the present treaty. (4) The civil rights and political 
status of the native inhabitants of the territories hereby 
ceded to the United States shall be determined by the Con- 
gress. (5) The inhabitants of the territories over which 
Spain relinquishes or cedes her sovereignty shall be secured 
in the full exercise of their religion. ^ 

464. Senate ratifies the Treaty February 6, 1899; Opinions 
regarding the Treaty. (1899-1900.) — Tlie President sent the 
treaty of peace to the Senate January 4, and after four 
Aveeks of discussion, it was passed (February G, 1899) by an 
affirmative vote of fifty-seven, or one more than the neces- 
sary two-thirds majority. (Co]ist. Art. 2, Sect. 2, clause 
(2)). 

1 Porto Kico, with the three small islands near it, — Culebra and Vieques 
on the east and Mona on the west, — contains about oOOO square miles, or 
about half as many as New Jersey. By the census taken by the United 
States late in 1899, the population is 958,679, about half being whites. 

Guam is 5200 miles from San Francisco and 900 from Manila. It is 
about 32 miles long and has a population of about 9000. The inhabitants 
have come from the Philippines. Spanish is the prevailing language. The 
island is thickly wooded and well watered. It has an excellent harbor. 

The Philippines number over 1500 islands, but many of them are small. 
The land area is estimated at about 116,000 sfjuare miles, and the population 
at about 8,000,000. The inhabitants are mostly Malays, but about thirty races 
are represented. Luzon, the largest island, has an area of about 44,000 
square miles, — about the same as Pennsylvania, — and its population is 
about 5,000,000. Manila is the largest city, with a population of about 
250,000 ; it has one of the finest harbors in the Pacific. 



WAK WITH SPAIN AND TERRITORIAL EXPANSION. 435 

The provision wliich caused the most discussion was that 
regarding the Philippines. Many felt that to acquire them 
as a possession meant to plunge the country into great diffi- 
culties. Very few of the people of the islands were fit to 
become citizens ; but could they be anything eLse, if the 
islands became part of the United States? The ownership of 
the islands would be likely to involve the countrj' in trouble 
with European nations. To keep them, it was further 
claimed, would be an entire change of policy for the coun- 
try, and was opposed to the spirit of the Declaration of 
Independence and the good advice in Washington's Fare- 
well Address. 

On the other hand, it was contended that as the islands 
had come to the nation through the war, they should be 
retained and the United States should not shirk the difficul- 
ties and responsibilities of the situation. It was claimed 
that it was far better for the Filipinos that they should 
belong to the United States than that tliey should be left 
to themselves or returned to Spain ; it was, moreover, by 
no means sure that the islands would have to become a part 
of the nation in the same sense as one of the territories ; 
that was a matter wliich could be left for the future to 
decide. The majority in the Senate probably represented 
the views of a majority of tlie people. 

A day or two before the final vote on the treaty, a body 
of Filipinos, under Emilio Aguinaldo, a native of great 
ability, attacked the American defences at Manila. The 
next day the Americans returned the attack, and for nearly 
a year there was a resistance to the American rule on the part 
of the tribes which Aguinaldo represented. These tribes 
belong to the Tagals, a Malay race. They are in a minor- 
ity as regards the whole population, but are among the most 
able and intelligent. By the close of the year 1899 the 




436 HISTOKY OF THP: UNITED STATES. 

organized resistance on the part of the Tagals appeared to 
be nearly ended," and the army of Agninaldo reduced to 
marauders and l)andits. 

465. Cost of the War ; Losses ; Red Cross Society. — With the 
ratification of the Treaty of Paris, the war Avith Spain offi- 
cially ceased. 

It is impossible to calculate the exact cost of the war to 
the country ; but the direct cost of the army and navy was 
about fll5,000,000, while tlie increased 
expenditures in otlier departments of tlie 
government was very great. 

No war in the history of the country 

has been carried on with so little loss of 

RED CROSS ARMLET lifc. No flag or guu or vessel was cap- 

AND FLAG. turcd, aud no prisoners taken l)y the 

enemy, except Ensign Hobson and his companions. ^ 

As in the Civil War the Sanitary and Christian commis- 
sions added greatly to the comfort and health of the soldiers, 
so in the Spanish War did the Red Cross Society. The 
wounded, the sick, and the suffering were carefully and skil- 
fully attended to and their wants supplied. ^ 

466. Annexation of the Hawaiian Islands. (1898.) — After 
the failure of the j^lan to annex the Hawaiian Islands in 1893 

1 The number of men in the army was about 275,000. The total loss of 
life in battle was under 400 ; that from disease about 2900. The manage- 
ment of the commissary department of the army was severely criticised for 
supplying food unfit for use, and the unsanitary conditions of many of the 
camps greatly increased the losses from disease. 

2 The Red Cross Society was founded in 1864 at Geneva, Switzerland, 
by delegates from the principal nations ; the agreements then drawn up 
have been signed by nearly all civilized powers. The object of the society 
is to relieve suffering by war, pestilence, famine, flood, fire, or any calamity 
which is national in extent. Miss Clara Barton is president of the Ameri- 
can Society, 



WAR WITH SPAIN AND TERRITORIAL EXPANSION. 437 

(Sect. 429), a republic was proclaimed, July 4, 1894, under 
the presidency of Sanford B. Dole. He was a native of the 
islands, but of American parentage, and had been the head 
of the provisional government set up after the expulsion of 
Queen Liliuokalani. When the Republicans in the United 
States again came into power, a new treaty of annexation was 




SENATE AND LEGISLATIVE BUILDINGS, HONOLULU, HAWAII. 
(From a photograph.) 



negotiated in 1897. This was approved by the President, and 
sent to the Senate, but was not acted upon by that body. 

Dewey's victory at Manila showed very clearly the advan- 
tage to the United States of owning the Hawaiian Islands 
for naval purposes, if for nothing else. Accordingl3% July 6, 
1898, Congress by a joint resolution annexed the islands. ^ 
Tlie annexation was formally proclaimed at Honolulu, and 
the United States flag raised, August 12, 1898. By direc- 

1 The resolution set forth that, the Republic of Hawaii having already 
signified its consent to cede all rights of sovereignty over the Hawaiian 
Islands to the United States, Congress accepts, ratifies, and confirms such 
cession. 



438 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

tion of President McKinley the officers of the late republic 
were to fulfil the duties of their positions until Congress 
should provide a new form of government. These officers 
took the oath of allegiance to the United States, and were 
subject to removal by the President. ^ 

467. Guam ; Wake Island. (1899.) Samoan Islands. (1889.) 
Partition Treaty; United States acquires Tutuila. (1899.) — In 

accordance with the treaty of peace the United States took 
formal possession of Guam February 1, 1899. On the wa}' 
thither Commander Taussig, of the United States gunboat 
Bennington^ lioisted the flag over Wake Island, a small island 
about two thousand miles distant from Hawaii and in the 
direct route from Hawaii to Hong-Kong. 

Under the administration of President Cleveland, the 
United States (1889) joined with Great Britain and German}- 
in guaranteeing the neutrality of the Samoan Islands in the 
South Pacific, and in forming a joint protectorate over them.^ 
There was much trouble in the islands from trade rivalry 

1 The Hawaiian group consists of twelve islands, most of them small. 
The total area is about 6750 square miles. Hawaii, the largest, has an area 
of 4210 square miles — almost two thirds of the whole. The population of 
the islands in 1897 was 109,020. It is very mixed, hardly one third being 
Hawaiians ; Chinese and Japanese together form nearly one half ; while the 
Americans number but 3000. The American influence, however, has long 
been very great, and the commercial intercourse of the islands is almost 
wholly with the United States. In 1897, of the exports, 99.62 per cent went 
to the United States, while 76.94 per cent of the imports came from the 
United States. The exports consist of little besides sugar. 

2 The Samoan group, formerly known as the Navigators' Islands, consists 
of fourteen islands lying in a line drawn from San Francisco to Auckland. 
New Zealand. They are about 4000 miles from Hawaii, 4200 miles from 
Manila, and 1900 miles from Auckland. They contain an area of about 
1740 square miles, and have a total poimlation of less than :>5,000. Recently 
Samoa has become well known as the residence of the late Robert Louis 
Stevenson, the author. 



WAR WITH SPAIN AND TERRITORIAL EXPANSION. 439 

among the foreigners and various claims for kingship among 
the native chiefs. These troubles resulted (January, 1899) in 
a petty war, in which the British and Americans took the 
side of one of the chiefs. In June the three powers 
appointed a commission to visit Samoa and adjust the 
differences. 

The commissioners, after investigation, proposed to abolish 
the native government and establish one to be maintained 
by the three powers. Great Britain, Germany, and the United 
States. Before this arrangement could be ratified, Great 
Britain and Germany entered into a new agreement regard- 
ing the islands. By this agreement Great Britain, in con- 
sideration of the withdrawal by Germany of certain claims 
to other islands, gave up all claim to the Samoan group. 
It Avas further agreed that the United States should be 
given Tutuila, the largest of the islands, and that Germany 
should have the others.^ 

This partition treaty was signed by the President December 
2, 1899, and confirmed by the Senate ; thus another island 
in the Pacific was added to the possessions of the United 
States. 



468. Prosperity in the United States. (1898-1899.) Results 
of Spanish War. (1900.) — Notwithstanding the Spanish War, 
and the heavy taxation which it caused, the year 1898 was 
one of the most prosperous which the country has ever 
known. The exports were the largest on record, and 
though the imports were large, they yet fell far short of the 
exports. Crops were abundant, the mills Averc busy, and 

1 Tutuila has an area of about fifty-four square miles, and possesses the 
harbor of Pago Pago, the finest in the South Pacific. A coaling station 
here was granted to the United States in 1872. 



440 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

almost the whole country was reaping the fruits of prosperity. 
The year 1899 was even more prosperous than 1898. 

Perhaps there has been no year in the history of the 
United States more full of meaning than 1898. The inter- 
vention on behalf of Cuba brought with iV results which 
few could foresee, and which many contemphited with fear. 
Within one short year the United States, almost in spite 
of herself, had assumed the position of a power which must 
take part in the affairs of the whole world. Once being 
confined to the North American continent, she now has 
vast dependent possessions. Her flag floats over the most 
important islands in the West Indies, and she holds some 
of the fairest and richest islands in the Pacific. Millions 
of people, representing many and diverse races, have come 
under her care to be governed, to be uplifted, and to be 
treated Avith kindness and justice. 

With the close of the nineteenth century tlie United 
States takes its place as the richest and one of the most 
powerful nations in the world. No nation has had such 
opportunities, and no nation in Idstory has attained such 
greatness in so short a period. The problems before the 
country are great and diflicult ; upon their right solution 
depend the successful future of the great Republic, and 
the material and moral welfare of all her millions of people. 



Appendix I. 



MAYFLOWER COMPACT. 

"In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are vnderwritten, the 
loyall Subiects of our dread soveraigne Lord Kmg Iames, by the grace of 
God of Great Britaine, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith &c. 

" Having vndertaken for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian 
Faith, and honour of our King and Countrey, a Voyage to plant the first 
Colony in the Northerne parts of Virginia doe by these presents solemnly 
and mutually in the presence of God and one of another, covenant, and com- 
bine our selues together into a civill body politike, for our better ordering 
and preservation, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid ; and by vertue 
hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such iust and equall Lawes, Ordi- 
nances, acts, constitutions, offices from time to time, as shall be thought 
most meet and convenient for the generall good of the Colony : vnto which 
we promise all due submission and obedience. In witnesse whereof we haue 
here-vnder subscribed our names, CajJe Cod 11. of November, in the yeare 
of the raigne of our soveraigne Lord King Iames, of England, France, and 
Ireland 18. and of Scotland 54. Aimo Domini 1620." 

Taken from Mourt's Relation, edited by Henry M. Dexter, Boston, 1865. 



Ill 



iv HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Appendix II. 

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.! 

In Congress, July 4, 1776. 

THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED 
STATES OF AMERICA. 

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people 
to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and 
to assume among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to 
which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect 
to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which 
impel them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, 
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that 
among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secufe 
these rights. Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just 
powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Gov- 
ernment becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to 
alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation 
on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall 
seem most likely to effect their Safet}^ and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, 
will dictate tliat Governments long established should not be changed for 
light and transient causes ; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that 
mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right 
themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when 
a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object 

1 The original copy of the Declaration of Independence, which was signed at Philadelphia, is 
kept at the Department of State, Washington, District of Columbia. The writing is much faded, 
and some of the signatures have nearly disappeared. 

The arrangement of paragraphs here adopted follows the copy in the Journals of Congress, 
printed by John Dunlap, which agrees with Jefferson's original draft. No names of states 
appear in the original, though the names from each state are together, except that the signa- 
ture of Matthew Thornton, New Hampshire, follows that of Oliver Wolcott, Massachusetts. 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. v 

evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, 
it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards 
for tlieir future security. —Such has been the patient sufferance of these 
Colonies ; and such is now the necesi^ity which constrains them to alter their 
former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great 
Britain is a history of repeated inj^iries and usurpations, all having in direct 
object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove 
this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. 

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for 
the public good. 

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing 
importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be 
obtained ; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to 
them. 

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts 
of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation 
in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants 
only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, 
and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose 
of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. 

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with 
manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. 

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to 
be elected ; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have 
returned to the People at large for their exercise ; the State remaining in the 
mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convul- 
sions within. 

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States ; for that 
purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners ; refusing to 
pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of 
new Appropriations of Lands. 

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent 
to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers. 

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their 
offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of 
Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their substance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace. Standing Armies without the 
Consent of our legislature. 

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the 
Civil Power. 



Vi HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our 
constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws ; giving his Assent to their 
Acts of pretended Legislation: 

For quartering large bodies of armed .troops among us : 

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders 
which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States ; 

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world : 

For imposing taxes on us without our Consent : 

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury : 

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences : 

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring 
Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its 
Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for 
introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies : 

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and 
altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments : 

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested 
with Power to legislate for us m all cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection 
and waging War against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and 
destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to 
compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with 
circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous 
ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to 
bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends 
and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to 
bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, 
whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, 
sexes and conditions. 

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the 
most humble terms : Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by 
repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act 
which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free People. 

Nor have We been wanting in attention to our Brittish brethren. We have 
warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an 
unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circum- 
stances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their 
native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 



Vll 



our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably 
interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to 
the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce 
in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold 
the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends. 

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in 
General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world 
for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the 
good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare. That these 
United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States ; 
that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all 
political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and 
ought to be totally dissolved ; and that as Free and Independent States, they 
have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish 
Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States 
may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm 
reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to 
each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. 

JOHN HANCOCK. 



k 



NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

JOSIAH BaRTLETT, 

Wm. Whipple, 
Matthew Thornton. 

MASSACHUSETTS BAY. 
Saml. Adams, 
John Adams, 
RoBT. Treat Paine, 
Elbridge Gerry. 

RHODE ISLAND. 

Step. Hopkins, 
William Ellery. 

CONNECTICUT. 
Roger Sherman, 
Sam' el Huntington, 
Wm. Williams, 
Oliver Wolcott. 

NEW YORK. 
Wm. Floyd, 
Phil. Livingston, 
Frans. Lewis, 
Lewis Morris. 



NEW JERSEY. 
RiCHD. Stockton, 
J no. Witherspoon, 
Fras. Hopkinson, 
John Hart, 
Abra. Clark. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

RoBT. Morris, 
Benjamin Rush, 
Ben,ja. Franklin, 
John Morton, 
Geo Clymer, 
Jas. Smith, 
Geo. Taylor, 
James Wilson, 
Geo. Ross. 

DELAWARE. 
C^SAR Rodney, 
Geo. Read, 
Tho. M'Kean. 

MARYLAND. 

Samuel Chase, 
Wm, Paca, 



Thos. Stone, 

Charles Carroll of Carroll- 
ton. 

VIRGINIA. 
George Wythe, 
Richard Henry Lee, 
Th. Jefferson, 
Benja. Harrison, 
Thos. Nelson, jr., 
Francis Lightfoot Lee, 
Carter Braxton. 

NORTH CAROLINA. 
Wm. Hooper, 
Joseph Hewes, 
John Penn. 

SOUTH CAROLINA. 
Edward Rutledge, 
Thos. Heyward, Junr., 
Thomas Lynch, Junr., 
Arthur Middleton. 

GEORGIA. 
Button Gwinnett, 
Lyman Hall, 
Geo. Walton. 



viii HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Appendix III. 



[THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
OF AMERICA.] i 

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect 
Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the 
common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Bless- 
ings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish 
this Constitution for the United States of America. 

ARTICLE. I. 

Section. 1. AD legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Con- 
gress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of 
Representatives. 

Section, 2. [1] The House of Representatives shall be composed of Mem- 
bers chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the 
Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of 
the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature. 

[2] No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to 
the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United 
States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in 
which he shall be chosen, 

[3] Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the 
several States which may be included within this Union, according to their 
respective Numbers,'^ [which shall be determined by adding to the whole 
Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of 

1 This text of the Constitution has been printed from the copy issued i)y the United States 
Department of State which bears the indorsement, "Compared with the original in the Depart- 
ment of State, April 13, 1891, and found to be correct." Those parts of the document in 
brackets [] are not in the original, or have been modified or sujjerseded by amendments, or 
were temporary in their character. 

2 The apportionment under the census of 1890 is one representative to every 173,901. 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. ix 

Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons]. i 
The actual Enumeration shall be made withiji three Years after the first 
Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent 
Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Num- 
ber of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but 
each State shall have at Least one Representative ; [and until such enumera- 
tion shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse 
three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode- Island and Providence Plantations one, 
Connecticut five, New^-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Dela- 
ware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five. South Carolina 
five, and Georgia three.] 

[4] When vacancies happen in the Representation from anv State, the 
Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Va- 
cancies. 

[5] The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker ^ and other 
Ofi&cers ; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment. 

Section. 3. [1] The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two 
Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years ; 
and each Senator shall have one Vote. 

[2] Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first 
Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The 
Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of 
the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, 
and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third 
may be chosen every second Year ; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, 
or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Execu- 
tive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of 
the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies. 

[3] No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age 
of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who 
shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be 
chosen. 

[4] The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the 
Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided. 

[5] The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro 
tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise 
the Office of President of the United States. 

[6] The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When 
sitting for that Purpose,'they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the 
President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside : And 

1 The clause in brackets has been superseded by the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments. 
'^ The Speaker is always one of the representatives ; the other otlicers are lot. 



i 



X HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the 
Members present. 

[7] Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to 
removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of 
honor, Trust or Profit under the United States : but the Party convicted 
shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and 
Punishment, according to Law. 

Section. 4. [1] The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for 
Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legis- 
lature thereof ; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such 
Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators. 

[2] The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such 
Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by Law 
appoint a different Day. 

Section. 5. [1] Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns 
and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute 
a Quorum to do Business ; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to 
day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, 
in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide. 

[2] Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its 
Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, 
expel a Member. 

[3] Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to 
time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require 
Secrecy ; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any 
question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the 
Journal. 

[4] Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the 
Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other 
Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting. 

Section. 6. [1] The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Com- 
pensation ^ for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the 
Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, 
Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their 
Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and 
returning from the same ; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, 
they shall not be questioned in any other Place. 

[2] No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was 
elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United 

1 At present (1S93) this is " $5000 per annum, with $ 125 annual allowance for stationery and 
newspapers, and a mileage allowance of twenty cents per mile of travel each way from their 
homes at each annual session." 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. xi 

States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have 
been encreased during such time ; and no Person holding any Office under 
the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance 
in Office. 

Section. 7. [1] All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House 
of Representatives ; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amend- 
ments as on other Bills. 

[2] Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and 
the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of 
the United States ; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return 
it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who 
shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to recon- 
sider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree 
to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other 
House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two 
thirds of that House, it shall become a Law, But in all such Cases the Votes 
of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and Nays, and the Names of the 
Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of 
each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President 
within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to 
him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless 
the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it 
shall not be a Law. 

[3] Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the 
Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a ques- 
tion of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United 
States ; and before the same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or 
being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and 
House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed 
in the Case of a Bill. 

Section. 8. [1] The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, 
Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common 
Defence and general Welfare of the United States ; but all Duties, Imposts 
and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States ; 

[2] To borrow Money on the credit of the United States ; 

[3J To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several 
States, and with the Indian Tribes ; 

[4] To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on 
the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States ; 

[5] To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and 
fix the Standard of Weights and Measures ; 

[6] To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and 
current Coin of the United States : 



xii HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

[7] To establish Post Offices and post Roads ; 

[8] To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for 
limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respec- 
tive Writings and Discoveries ; 

[9] To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court ; 

[10] To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high 
Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations ; 

[11] To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make 
Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water ; 

[12] To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that 
Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years ; 

[13] To provide and maintain a Navy ; 

[14] To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and 
naval Forces ; 

[15] To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the 
Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions ; 

[16] To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and 
for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the 
United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of 
the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the disci- 
pline prescribed by Congress ; 

[17] To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such 
District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular 
States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government 
of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased 
by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, 
for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other need- 
ful Buildings ; — And 

[18] To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying 
into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this 
Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department 
or Officer thereof. 

Section. 9. [1] [The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any 
of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be pro- 
hibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and 
eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on sach Importation, not exceeding 
ten dollars for each Person.] i 

[2] The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, 
unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may 
require it. 

[3] No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed. 

> A temporary clause no louger iu force. 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. xiii 

[4] No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion 
to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken. 

[5] No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State. 

[6] No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or 
Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another : nor shall Vessels 
bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in 
another. 

[7] No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of 
Appropriations made by Law ; and a regular Statement and Account of the 
Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time 
to time. 

[8] No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States : And no 
Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the 
Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, 
of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.i 

Section. 10. [1] No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Con- 
federation ; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal ; coin Money ; emit Bills 
of Credit ; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment 
of Debts ; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing 
the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility. 

[2j No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts 
or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary 
for executing it's inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and 
Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the 
Treasury of the United States ; and all such Laws shall be subject to 
the Revision and Controul of the Congress. 

[3] No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of 
Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any 
Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or 
engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will 
not admit of delay .^ 

ARTICLE. II. 

Section. 1. [1] The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the 
United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four 
Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be 
elected, as follows 

[2] Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof 
may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators 

1 The personal rights enumerated in Section 9, have been added to, and extended by, Amend- 
ments I.-X. 

2 The provisions of Section 10 have been modified and extended by Amendments XIII -XV. 



xiv HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: 
but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or 
Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector. 

[3 j [The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot 
for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same 
State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted 
for, and of the Number of Votes for each ; which List they shall sign and 
certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United 
States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate 
shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open 
all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having 
the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be 
a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed ; and if there be more 
than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then 
the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them 
for President ; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest 
on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But 
in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representa- 
tion from each State having one Vote ; A quorum for this Purpose shall con- 
sist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority 
of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the 
Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of 
the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or 
more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the 
Vice President.] i 

[4] The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and 
the Day on which they shall give their Votes ; which Day shall be the same 
throughout the United States. 

[5] No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United 
States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to 
the Office of President ; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office 
who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been four- 
teen Years a Resident within the United States. 

[6] In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, 
Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said 
Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may 
by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, 
both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then 
act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability 
be removed, or a President shall be elected. 

1 This clause has been superseded by Amendment XII. 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. xv 

[7] The President shall, at stated Thnes, receive for his Services, a Com- 
pensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the Period 
for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that 
Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them. 

[8] Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the fol- 
lowing Oath or Affirmation : — " I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will 
faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to 
the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the 
United States." 

Section. 2. [1] The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army 
and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when 
called into the actual Service of the United States ; he may require the 
Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive De- 
partments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, 
and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against 
the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment. 

[2] He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the 
Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present con- 
cur ; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the 
Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, 
Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, 
whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall 
be established by Law : but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment 
of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the 
Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments. 

[3] The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may 
happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which 
shall expire at the End of their next Session. 

Section. 3. [1] He shall from time to time give to the Congress Informa- 
tion of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such 
Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient ; he may, on extraor- 
dinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of 
Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he 
may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper ; he shall receive 
Ambassadors and other public Ministers ; he shall take Care that the Laws 
be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United 
States. 

Section. 4. [1] The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the 
United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Con- 
viction of. Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. 



xvi HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

ARTICLE. III. 

Section. 1. [1] The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested 
in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from 
time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and 
inferior Courts, shall hold their Oifices during good Behaviour, and shall, at 
stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be 
diminished during their continuance in Office. 

Section. 2. [1] The judicial Power shall extend to all cases, in Law and 
Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and 
Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority ; — to all Cases 
affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls ; — to all Cases 
of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction ; — to Controversies to which the 
United States shall be a Party ; — to Controversies between two or more 
States ; — between a State and Citizens of another State ; i between Citizens 
of different States, — between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands 
under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, 
and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects. 

[2] In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Con- 
suls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall liave 
original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme 
Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such 
Exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make. 

[3] The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by 
Jury ; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall 
have been committed ; but when not committed within any State, the Trial 
shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed. 

Section. 3. [1] Treason against the United States, shall consist only in 
levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid 
and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testi- 
mony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open 
Court. 

[2] The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, 
but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture 
except during the Life of the Person attainted. 

ARTICLE. IV. 

Section. 1. [1] Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to 
tlie public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And 

1 Modified bv Amendment XI. 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, xvii 

the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, 
Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof. 

Section. 2. [1] The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privi- 
leges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. i 

[2] A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, 
who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand 
of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, 
to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime. 

[3] [No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws 
thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Pegula- 
tion therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered 
up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.] 2 

Section. 3. [1] New States may be admitted by the Congress into this 
Union ; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction 
of any other State ; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more 
States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the 
States concerned as well as of the Congress. 

[2] The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful 
Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging 
to the United States ; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed 
as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State. 

Section. 4. [1] The United States shall guarantee to every State in this 
Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them 
against Invasion ; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive 
(when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence. 

ARTICLE. V. 

[1] The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it 
necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Appli- 
cation of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Con- 
vention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to 
all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the 
Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three 
fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed 
by the Congress ; Provided that [no Amendment which may be made prior 
to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect 
the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article ; and 
that] 3 no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of it's equal Suffrage 

in the Senate. 

1 Provisions extended by Amendment XIV. 

2 Superseded by Amendment XIII. 

3 Temporary in its nature. 



xviii HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



ARTICLE. VI. 

[1] All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adop- 
tion of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under 
this Constitution, as under the Confederation. 

[2] This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be 
made in Pursuance thereof ; and all Treaties made, or which shall be 
made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of 
the Land ; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing 
in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding. 

[3] The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members 
of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both 
of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or 
Affirmation, to support this Constitution ; but no religious Test shall ever be 
required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United 
States. 

ARTICLE. VII. 

[1] The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient 
for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the 
Same. 

The Word, "the", being in- 
terlined between the seventh 
and eighth Lines of the first DoNE in Convention by the Unanimous Consent 

Page, The Word "Thirty" 
being partly written on an 
Erazure in the fifteenth Line 
of the first Page, The Words 



of the States present the Seventeenth Day of 
September in the Year of our Lord one thousand 
"is tried" being interlined seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the 

between the thirty second and 

thirty third Lines of the first Indepeudancc of the United States of America 

Page and the Word "the" 
being interlined between the 
forty third and forty fourth hereunto Subscribed our Names, 

Lines of the second Page. 

[Note by Printer. — The 
interlined and rewritten 
■words, mentioned in the 



the Twelfth In Witness whereof We have 



GO : WASHINGTON — Fresidt. 



above explanation, are in this and deputy from Virginia 

edition, printed in their proper 
places in the text.] 

Attest William Jackson Secretary 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. xix 



NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
John Langdon 
Nicholas Gilman 

MASSACHUSETTS. 
Nathaniel Gorham 
RuFus King 

CONNECTICUT. 
Wm : Saml. Johnson 
Roger Sherman 

NEW YORK. 
Alexander Hamilton 

NEW JERSEY. 
WiL : Livingston 
David Brearley. 
Wm. Paterson. 
JoNA : Dayton 

PENNSYLVANIA. 
B Franklin 
Thomas Mifflin 
RoBT. Morris 
Geo. Clymer 
Thos. Fitz Simons 
Jared Ingersoll 
James Wilson 
Gouv Morris 



DELAWARE. 
Geo : Read 
Gunning Bedford jun 
John Dickinson 
Richard Bassett 
Jaco : Broom 

MARYLAND. 
James McHenry 
Dan of St Thos. Jenifer 
Danl Carroll 

VIRGINIA. 
John Blair — 
James Madison Jr. 

NORTH CAROLINA. 
Wm : Blount 

RiCHD. DOBBS SpAIGHT. 

Hu Williamson 

SOUTH CAROLINA. 
J. Rutledge 

Charles Cotesworth Pinckney 
Charles Pinckney 
Pierce Butler. 

GEORGIA. 
William Few 
Abr Baldwin 



XX HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



ARTICLES 



Addition to, and Amendment of the Constitution of the United 

States of America, proposed by Congress and ratified by 

the Legislatures of the Several States, pursuant 

TO THE Fifth Article of the Constitution. 



[ARTICLE L] 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or 
prohibiting the free exercise thereof ; or abridging the freedom of speech, or 
of the press ; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition 
the Government for a redress of grievances. 

[ARTICLE II.] 

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, 
the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. 

[ARTICLE III.] 

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the 
consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed 
by law. 

[ARTICLE IV.] 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and 
effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and 
no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or 
affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the 
persons or things to be seized. 

[ARTICLE v.] 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous 
crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. xxi 

cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual 
service in time of War or public danger ; nor shall any person be subject for 
the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall be 
compelled in any Criminal Case to be a witness against himself, nor be de- 
prived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ; nor shall 
private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. 

[ARTICLE VI.] 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy 
and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the 
crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously 
ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accu- 
sation ; to be confronted with the witnesses against him ; to have compul- 
sory process for obtaining Witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance 
of Counsel for his defence. 

[ARTICLE Vn.] 

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed 
twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact 
tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United 
States, than according to the rules of the common law. 

[ARTICLE Vm.] 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel 
and unusual punishments inflicted. 

[ARTICLE IX.] 

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be con- 
strued to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 

[ARTICLE X.]i 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor 
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to 
the people. 

[ARTICLE XL] 2 

The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend 
to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the 
United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any 
Foreign State. 

1 Amendments I.-X. were proclaimed to be in force December 15, 1791. 
* Proclaimed to be in force January 8, 1T9S. 



xxii HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[ARTICLE XII.] 1 
The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for 
President and Vice President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhab- 
itant of the same state with themselves ; they shall name in their ballots the 
person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as 
Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as 
President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number 
of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed 
to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President 
of the Senate ; — The President of the Senate shall, in presence of the Senate 
and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall 
then be counted ; — The person having the greatest number of votes for 
President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole 
number of Electors appointed ; and if no person have such majority, then 
from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list 
of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose 
immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the 
votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one 
vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from 
two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to 
a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President 
whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day 
of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as 
in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President. 
The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be 
the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of 
Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two 
highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; 
a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of 
Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. 
But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be 
eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States. 

[ARTICLE Xm.]2 

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punish- 
ment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist 
within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 

Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro- 
priate legislation. 

1 Proclaimed to be in force September 25, 1804. 

2 Proclaimed to be in force December 18, 1865. 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, xxiii 



[ARTICLE XIV.] 1 

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and sub- 
ject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the 
State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which 
shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States ; 
nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without 
due process of law ; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal 
protection of the laws. 

Section 2. Eepresentatives shall be apportioned among the several States 
according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons 
in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote 
at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of 
the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial 
officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to 
any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, 
and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for partici- 
pation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall 
be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall 
bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such 
State. 

Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, 
or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or mili- 
tary, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously 
taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, 
or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer 
of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have 
engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort 
to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each 
House, remove such disability. 

Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, author- 
ized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties 
for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. 
But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or 
obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United 
States, or any claim for the loss of emancipation of any slave ; but all such 
debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void. 

Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate 
legislation, the provisions of this article. 

1 Proclaimed to be in force July 28, 1868. 



xxiv HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[ARTICLE XV.] 1 

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shan not be 
denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, 
color, or previous condition of servitude. 

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
appropriate legislation. 

1 Proclaimed to be in force March 80, 1870. 



LINCOLN'S SECOND INAUGURAL. xxv 



Appendix IV. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S SECOND INAUGURAL 
ADDRESS, MARCH 4, 1865. 

Fellow-countrymen : At this second appearing to take the oath of the 
Presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended address than there 
was at the first. Then, a statement, somewhat in detail, of a course to be 
pursued, seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, 
during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every 
point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and 
engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. 

The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well 
known to the public as to myself ; and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory 
and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in 
regard to it is ventured. 

On the occasion corresponding to this, four years ago, all thoughts were 
anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it — all sought to 
avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, 
devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were 
in the city seeking to destroy it without war — seeking to dissolve the Union, 
and divide effects, by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war; but one 
of them would make war rather than let the nation survive ; and the other 
would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came. 

One-eighth of the whole population were .colored slaves, not distributed 
generally over the Union, but localized in the Southern part of it. These 
slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this 
interest was, somehow, the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and 
extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the 
Union, even by war, while the government claimed no right to do more than 
to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. 

Neither party expected for the war the uiagnitude or the duration which 
it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict 
might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each 
looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. 



xxvi HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God ; and each invokes his 
aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to 
ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other 
men's faces ; but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of 
both could not be answered — that of neither has been answered fully. The 
Almighty has his own purposes. " Woe unto the world because of offenses ! 
for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the 
offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of these 
offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, hav- 
ing continued through his appointed time, he now wills to remove, and that 
he gives to both North and South this terrible war, as the woe due to those 
by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from 
those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to 
him ? Fondly do we hope — fervently do we pray — that this mighty scourge 
of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the 
wealth piled by the bondman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited 
toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall 
be paid with another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand 
years ago, so still it must be said, " The judgments of the Lord are true and 
righteous altogether." 

With malice toward none ; with charity for all ; with firmness in the right, 
as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in ; 
to bind up the nation's wounds ; to care for him who shall have borne the 
battle, and for his widow, and his orphan — to do all which may achieve 
and cherish a just and a lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations. 



ADMISSION OF THE STATES, POPULATION, ETC. xxvii 



Appendix V. 

DATE OF THE ADMISSION OF THE STATES, SQUARE MILES 
IN EACH, AND POPULATION AT THE CENSUS OF 1890. 



Date of 
Admission. 



Square 
Miles. 



Population. 
1890. 



1. Delaware 

2. Pennsylvania r 

3. New Jersey 2 

4. Georgia ^ 

5. Connecticut '-g 

6. Massachusetts g 

7. Maryland O 

8. South Carolina ^ 

9. New Hampshire ^ 

10. Virginia cS 

1 1 . New York '^ 

12. North Carolina « 

13. Rhode Island 

14. Vermont admitted , 

15. Kentucky " 

16. Tennessee " 

17. Ohio " 

18. Louisiana " - 

19. Indiana " 

20. Mississippi " 

21. Illinois " 

22. Alabama " 

23. Maine " 

24. Missouri " 

25. Arkansas " 

26. Michigan " 

27. Florida " 

28. Texas " 

29. Iowa " 

30. Wisconsin " 

31. California " 

32. Minnesota " 

33. Oregon " 

34. Kansas " 

35. West Virginia " 

36. Nevada " 

37. Nebraska " 

38. Colorado 

39. North Dakota " 

40. South Dakota " 

41. Montana " 

42. Washington " 

43. Idaho " 

44. Wyoming " 

45. Utah " 



Dec. 
Dec. 
Dec. 
Jan. 
Jan. 
Feb. 
April 
May 
June 
June 
July 
Nov. 
May 



7, 1787 
12, 1787 
18, 1787 
2, 1788 
9, 1788 
6, 1788 

28, 1788 
23, 1788 
21, 1788 

25, 1788 

26, 1788 
21, 1789 

29, 1790 



March 4, 1791 



June 
June 
Feb. 
April 
Dec. 
Dec. 
Dec. 
Dec. 



1, 1792 

1, 1796 

19, 1803 

8, 1812 
11, 1816 

10, 1817 
3, 1818 

14, 1819 
March 15, 1820 
Aug. 10, 1821 
June 15, 1836 
Jan. 26, 1837 
March 3, 1845 
Dec. 29, 1845 
Dec. 28, 1846 

29, 1848 

9, 1850 

11, 1858 
14, 1859 
29, 1861 
19, 1863 
31, 1864 

March 1, 1867 

Aug. 1, 1876 

Nov. 3, 1889 

Nov. 

Nov. 

Nov. 

July 

July 

Jan. 



May 
Sept. 
May 
Feb. 
Jan. 
June 
Oct. 



3, 1889 

8, 1889 

11, 1889 

3, 1890 
10, 1890 

4, 1S96 



2,050 
45,215 

7,815 
59,475 

4,990 

8,315 
12,210 
30,570 

9,305 
42,450 
49,170 
52,250 

1,250 

9,565 
40,400 
42,050 
41,060 
48,720 
36,350 
46,810 
56,650 
52,250 
33,040 
69,415 
53,850 
58,915 
58,680 
265.780 
56,025 
56,040 
158,360 
83,365 
96,030 
82,080 
24,780 
110,700 
77,510 
103,925 
70,795 
77,650 
146,080 
69,180 
84,800 
97,890 
84,970 



168,493 

5,258,014 

1,444,933 

1,837,353 

746,258 

2,238,943 

1,042,390 

1,151,149 

376,530 

1,655,980 

5,997,853 

1,617,947 

345,506 

332,422 

1,858,635 

1,767,518 

3,672,316 

1,118,587 

2,192,404 

1,289,600 

3,826,351 

1,513,017 

661,086 

2,679,184 

1,128,179 

2,093,889 

391,422 

2,235,523 

1,911,896 

1,686,880 

1,208,130 

1,301,826 

313,767 

1,427,096 

762,794 

45,761 

1,058,910 

412,198 

182,719 

328,808 

132,159 

349,390 

84,385 

60,705 

207,905 



XXVlll 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



TERRITORIES, Etc. 





Organized. 


Square 
Miles. 


Population. 


District of Columbia 


Mar. 30, 1791 
Sept. 9, 1850 
Feb. 24, 1863 
Apr. 21, 1889 
June 30, 1834 
(Mar. 30, 1867 1) 


70 

122,580 

113,020 

39,030 

31,400 

577,390 2 


230 392 




153 593 




59,620 
61,834 

32,052 




Indian Territory (no territorial government) 





Total gross area (land and water), exclusive of Alaska. .3,025,600 sq. miles. 

Total water surface, exclusive of Alaska 55,600 sq. miles. 

Total land surface, exclusive of Alaska .2,970,000 sq. miles. 

Total gross surface, with Alaska (estimated) 3,602,990 sq. miles. 

Total population, exclusive of white persons in Indian Territory, Indians on 

Reservations, and Alaska 62,622,250 

Total number of Indians on Reservations, exclusive of Alaska 133,382 

Total number of Indians in United States, exclusive of Alaska 249,273 ^ 

Total number of Indians in Alaska 23,531 

Note. — Works of reference differ in giving statistics of the states and 
territories. Those given above are, with few exceptions, on the authority 
of The Public Domain, Thomas Donaldson, Washington, 1884, and the publi- 
cations of the Eleventh Census of the United States. The areas given are 
those of the Eleventh Census, and are gross (land and water). 



» Bought from Russia March 30, 1867. 2 Estimated. 

3 " The Indians not under charge of the United States are slowly increasing." "The Reser- 
vation Indians are slowly decreasing, hut this decrease may be from their leaving the reservations 
and voluntarily taking the duties of citizenship ui)on themselves." — Census Report. 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES. 



XXIX 



Appendix VI. 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES. — POPULATION AT EACH 
CENSUS, ALSO THE URBAN POPULATION.i 





Year. 


Population. 


Population 
living in Cities. 


Inhabitants of Cities 
in each 100 of the 
Total Population. 


1790 


3,929,214 


131,472 


3.35 


1800 


5,308,483 


210,873 


3.97 


1810 


7,239,881 


356,920 


4.93 


1820 


9,633,822 


475,135 


.4.93 


1830 


12,866,020 


1,864,509 


6.72 


1840 


17,069,453 


1,453,994 


8.52 


1850 


23,191,876 


2,897,586 


12.49 


1860 


31,443,321 


5,072,256 


16.13 


1870 


38,558,371 


8,071,875 


20.93 


1880 


50,155,783 


11,318,547 


22.57 


1890 


62,622,250 


18,284,385 


29.20 




ANNEXATIONS OF 


TERRITORY. 


1 . Louisiana Pure 

2. Florida Cessio 

3. Texas Annexa 

4. Mexican Cessi 

5. Gadsden Purcl 

6. Alaska Purcha 


ihase . . 1803 
n . . . 1819 
tion . . 1845 
on . . . 1848 
tiase . . 1853 
se . . . 1867 


. . 1,032,790 s 
. . . 58,680 s 
. . . 371,063 s 
. . . 522,568 s 
. . . 45,535 s 
. . . 577,390 s 


jquare miles, 
jquare miles, 
quare miles. 
>quare miles, 
quare miles, 
quare miles. 



1 From Compendium of the Eleventh Census, Part I., p. Ixxi. 



XXX 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Appendix VII. 

POPULATION OF THE FREE AND SLAVE STATES, 1790-1860.1 




^ From Tribune Almanac, 1862. 



REPRESENTATION IN CONGRESS. 



XXXI 



Appendix VIIL 

REPRESENTATION IN CONGRESS FROM 1790 TO 1893. 



Tear. 


Senate. 


House of Representatives. 


Ratio of 


Free States. Slave States. 


Free States. 


Slave States. 


Representation.' 


1790 


14 






12 


35 


30 


30,000 


1793 


16 






14 


57 


48 


33,000 


1796 


16 






16 


57 49 


33,000 


1803 


18 






16 


76 


65 


33,000 


1813 


18 






18 


103 j 78 


35,000 


1816 


20 






18 


103 


78 


35,000 


1821 


24 






24 


105 


81 


35,000 


1823 


24 






24 


123 


90 


40,000 


1833 


24 






24 


141 


99 


47,700 


1837 


26 






26 


142 


100 


47,700 


1843 


26 






26 


135 


88 


70,680 


1848 


30 






30 


140 i 91 


70,680 


1853 


32 






30 


144 90 


93,423 


1860 


36 






30 


147 90 


93,423 


1863 




72 




243 


127,381 


1873 




76 




293 


131,425 


1883 




76 




325 


151,911 


1893 




88 




356 


173,901 



1 The number of representatives is fixed by Congress every ten years ^^Constitution, Art. I. 
sect. 2 [3]). By the last act it was provided that there should be one representative for every 
173,901 persons. 



XXXll 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



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CHIEF DATES IN AMERICAN HISTOKY. 



XXXlll 



Appendix X. 



CHIEF DATES IN AMERICAN HISTORY. 



Discovery and Attempts at Col- 
onization, 1000-1605. 

The Northmen, 1000(?). 

Columbus discovers San Salvador, October 12, 
1492. 

The Cabots discover the continent of North 
America, 1497. 

Amerigo Vespucci makes four voyages, 1499- 
1503. 

Waldseemiiller suggests the name America, 
1507. 

Ponce de Leon discovers Florida, 1513. 

Balboa discovers the Pacific, 1518. 

One ship of Magellan's fleet sails round the 
world, 1519-1522. 

Cortez conquers Mexico for Spain, 1519-1521. 

De Soto discovers the Mississippi, 1541 ; dies, 
1542. 

Menendez, the Spaniard, settles St. Augustine, 
Florida, the oldest town in the United States, 
1565. 

Martin Frobisher attempts to make a settle- 
ment in Labrador, 1576. 

Santa F^, New Mexico, founded by the Span- 
iards, 15S2(?). 

Sir Humphrey Gilbert's voyages, 1578-1583. 

Sir "Walter Ralegh's attempts at colonization, 
1584-1587. 

Gosnold's colony at Cuttyhunk, Buzzards 
Bay (a failure), 1602. 

Colonization and Inter-Colonial 
Wars, 1605-1763. 

French settle Port Eoyal (Annapolis) in Aca- 

die, 1605. 
Charters granted to the London and Plymouth 

Companies, 1606. 



Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent 
English settlement in America, founded, 
1607. 

Champlain founds Quebec, 1608. 

Henry Hudson discovers the Hudson River, 
1609. 

Trading post established by the Dutch on 
Manhattan Island, 1613. 

Virginia House of Burgesses, the first repre- 
sentative body in America, meets, 1619. 

A Dutch ship brings to Virginia the first cargo 
of negro slaves, 1619. 

Pilgrims land at Plymouth, December 21, 1620. 

Fort Amsterdam, afterwards New York, 
founded by the Dutch, 1626. 

John Endicott comes to Naumkeag (Salem), 
1628. 

Patroons in New York, 1629. 

Boston founded, 1630. 

Charter granted to Lord Baltimore, 1632. 

Collegiate School of the Dutch Church found- 
ed, 1633.1 

Leonard Calvert founds St. Mary's, Maryland, 
1684. 

Religious toleration granted in Maryland to all 
who believe in Jesus Christ, 1634. 

Wethersfield, Hartford, and Windsor, Con- 
necticut, founded, 1635. 

Boston Latin School founded, 1635.^ 

Harvard College founded, 1636. 

Roger Williams founds Providence, Rhode 
Island, 1636. 

Pequot War, 1686, 1687. 

New Haven founded, 16.38. 

Swedes settle on the Delaware River, 1688. 

"Fundamental Orders of Connecticut," first 
Avritten constitution in America, January 
14, 1638(9). 

"United Colonies of New England," 1643. 

Toleration Act in Maryland, 1649. 



1 Still flourishing in 1893. 



XXXIV 



HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. 



The Quakers in Massachusetts and Plymouth, 
1656. 

TVilliam Eobinson and Marmaduke Stevenson, 
two Quakers, hung on Boston Common, 
1659. 

Mary Dyer, a Quaker, hung on Boston Com- 
mon, 1660. 

"William Leddra, a Quaker, hung on Boston 
Common, 1661. 

Eliot's Indian New Testament printed, 1661. 

Khode Island Charter (in force till 1S43), 1663. 

Eliofs Indian Bible printed, 1663. 

English capture New Amsterdam, which be- 
comes New York, 1664. 

Elizabeth, New Jersey, settled by the EngUsh, 
1665. 

The "Model"' government for CaroUna, 1669. 

Settlement on the Ashley River, South Caro- 
lina, 1670. 

George Fox visits America, 1672. 

A Dutch fleet captures New York, 1673. 

New Jersey divided into East and "West Jer- 
sey, 1674. 

New York restored to the Enghsh by treaty, 
1674. 

King Philip's War, 1675. 

Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia, 1676. 

Massachusetts buys Gorges's rights in Maine, 
1677. 

"William Penn and others buy "West Jersey, 
1677. 

Philadelphia founded, 1682. 

"William Penn lands at Chester, 1682. 

Massachusetts charter annulled, 16S4. 

Rule of Sir Edmund Andros, 1686-16S8. 

"WiUiam Penn Charter School founded in Phila- 
delphia. 16S9.1 

King "William's War, 1689-1697. 

Jacob Leisler, Heutenant-governor of New 
York, 1689. 

First Congress of Colonies at New York, 1690. 

Massachusetts given a new charter, 1691. 

Leisler executed, 1691. 

"William and Mary College, Virginia, founded, 
1692. 

"Witchcraft delusion, 1692, 1693. [1695. 

John Archdale, governor of North Carolina, 

Peace of Ryswick in Europe, end of King 
"William's Var, 1697. 

Yale College founded, 1701. 

Queen Anne's War begins, 1702. 

Boston News Letter, first American news- 
paper, 1704. 

Queen Anne's Wars ended by Treaty of 
Utrecht, 1713. 



England secures the right to supply America 
-with slaves (the Assiento), 1713. 

Tuscaroras join the Five Nations, which be- 
come the " Six Nations," 1713. 

Rhode Island disfranchises Roman CathoHcs, 
1715. 

New Orleans founded by the French, 1718. 

Bering sails through Bering's Straits, 1728. 

George Berkeley (Bishop Berkeley) comes to 
Rhode Island," 1729. 

Proprietors of Carolina surrender their patent, 
1729. 

Baltimore, Maryland, founded, 1730. 

Oglethorpe founds Savannah, Georgia, 1733. 

Richmond. Virginia, laid out, 1733. 

John and Charles Wesley go to Georgia, 1736. 

George Whitefield visits Georgia, 1738. 

King George's War begins, 1744. 

Capture of Louisburg, 1745. 

College of New Jersey, Princeton, founded, 
1746. 

King George's War ends by treaty of Aix-la 
Chapelle, 174S. 

Ohio Company organized, 1748. 

University of Pennsylvania founded, 1749. 

Georgia becomes a royal colony, 1752. 

George Washington sent to the French, 1753. 

King's, afterwards Columbia, College, char- 
tered, 1754. 

Washington surrenders. 1754. 

Albany Convention, 1754. 

French and Indian War, 1754-1763. 

Braddock's defeat, 1755. 

Wolfe takes Quebec, 1759. [1760. 

Montreal taken, and England gains all Canada, 

Peace of Paris, 1763. 

Mason and Dixon's Line, 1763. 

The Revolution and Confedera- 
tion, 17G5-1789. 

The Stamp Act, 176.5. 

Stamp Act Congress in New York, 1765. 

Declaratory Act, March 7, 1766. 

Repeal of the Stamp Act, March 18, 1766, 

Townshend Acts, 1767. 

John Dickinson's Farmer's Letters, 1767. 

John Hancock's sloop seized. 1768. 

British troops reach Boston, 1768. 

"Boston Massacre," March 5, 1770. 

Removal of taxes except upon Tea, April, 1770. 

"Boston Tea Party," December 16, 1773. 

Boston Port Bill, 1774. 

Massachusetts Bill, 1774. 

Transportation Bill, 1774. 



1 Still flourishing in 1893. 



CHIEF DATES IN AMERICAN HISTORY. 



XXXV 



Quartering of Troops Bill, 1774, 

Quebec Bill, 1774. 

First Continental Congress (proposed by Vir- 
ginia), meets in Philadelphia, September 5, 
1774. 

Battle of Lexington, April 19, 1775. 

Second Continental Congress meets. May 10, 
1775. 

Ticonderoga captured, May 10, 1775. 

Mecklenburg (North Carolina) resolutions 
passed, May 31, 1775. 

Washington elected commander-in-chief, June 
15, 1775 ; commissioned, June 19, 1775. 

Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775. 

Washington takes command at Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, July 3, 1775. 

Union flag first displayed at Cambridge, Jan- 
uary 1, 1776. 

British evacuate Boston, March 17, 1776. 

Congress calls upon the states to provide inde- 
pendent governments. May 15, 1776. 

Resolutions of independence introduced into 
Congress, June 7, 1776. 

Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. 

Declaration of Independence signed by the 
members of Congress, August 2, 1776. 

American defeat on Long Island, August 27, 
1776. 

Washington evacuates New York City, Sep- 
tember 14, 1776. 

Washington retreats across New Jersey and 
crosses Delaware River, December, 1776. 

Trenton surprised by Washington, December 
26, 1776. 

Washington successful at Princeton, January 
2, 3, 1777. 

Lafayette joins American army, July, 1777. 

British defeat Americans at Chad's Ford, 
Brandywine Creek, September 11, 1777. 

Howe takes possession of Philadelphia, Sep- 
tember 26, 1777. 

Battle of Germantown, October 4, 1777. 

Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga, October 17, 
1777. 

Articles of Confederation adopted by Congress, 
November 15, 1777. 

Washington goes into winter quarters at Val- 
ley Forge, December 19, 1777. 

France acknowledges the independence of the 
United States, and makes treaties with her, 
February 6, 1778. 

British evacuate Philadelphia, June 18, 1778. 

Battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778. 

Massacre at Wyoming, Pennsylvania, July 3, 
1778. 

Massacre at Cherry Valley, New York, Novem- 
ber 11, 1778. 



British take Savannah, December 29, 1778. 

George Rogers Clark takes Vincennes, 1779. 

British rout Americans at Camden, South Caro- 
lina, August 16, 1780. 

Arnold's treason, September, 1780. 

Andr6 executed, October 2, 1780. 

General Nathanael Greene takes command of 
southern army, December 2, 1780. 

Robert Morris, Superintendent of Finance, 
February 20, 1781. 

Maryland joins the Confederation, March 1, 
1781. 

Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown, Virginia, 
October 19, 1781. 

Bank of North America, Philadelphia, char- 
tered by Congress, December 31, 1781. 

Provisional treaty of peace with Great Britain, 
November 30, 1782. 

Washington proclaims cessation of hostilities, 
April 19, 1783. 

Definitive treaty of peace -with Great Britain, 
September 3, 1783. 

New York evacuated by the British, Novem- 
ber 25, 1783. 

Washington resigns his commission as com- 
mander-in-chief, December 23, 1783. 

Maryland and Virginia commissioners meet at 
Alexandria, Virginia, March, 1785. 

Annapolis Convention, September, 1786. 

Shays's Rebellion in Massachusetts, December, 
1786. 

Constitutional Convention meets at Philadel- 
phia, May 14, 1787. 

Ordinance for Northwest Territory adopted by 
Congress, July 13, 1787. 

Constitution signed in the Convention, Septem- 
ber 17, 1787. 

Constitution published, September 19, 1787. 

Delaware the first state to ratify the Constitu- 
tion, December 7, 1787. 

New Hampshire the ninth state to ratify the 
Constitution, June 21, 1788. 

Last records of the Continental Congress, No- 
vember 1, 1788. 

The Federalist papers collected and published, 
1788. 

Washington and Adams declared President and 
Vice-President, April 6, 1789. 

The United States under the 
Constitution, 1789-1801. 

Washington inaugurated at New York, April 

80, 1789. 
Organization of the new government, 1789. 
Tariff for revenue and protection, 1791. 



XXXVl 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



First United States Bank established, 1791. 

Captain Robert Gray explores and names the 
Columbia River, 1792. 

Eli Whitney invents the Cotton-Gin, 1793. 

Whiskey Rebellion in Pennsylvania, 1794. 

Jay's Treaty with Great Britain, November 
19, 1794. 

Washington's Farewell Address, 1796. 

John Adams, President, March 4, 1797. 

X. Y. Z. Correspondence, 1798. 

French War wth United States, 1798. 

Alien and Sedition Laws, 1798. 

Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, 1798, 1799. 

Peace with France, 1799. 

Death of Washington, December 14, 1799. 

Washington city becomes the national capi- 
tal, 1800. 

Thomas JeflFerson chosen President by the 
House of Representatives, February 17, 
1801. 

Thomas JeflFerson, President, March 4, 1801. 

Tripolitan War, 1801. 

Louisiana bought from France, April 30, 1803. 

Lews and Clark expedition, 1804-1806. 

The Leopard and the Chesapeake, 1807. 

Fulton's Steamboat, 1807. 

The Embargo Act, December 22, 1807. 

The Foreign Slave Trade made illegal, 1808. 

Non-Intercourse Act ^assed, March 1, 1809. 

James Madison, President, March 4, 1809. 

Battle of Tippecanoe, November 7, 1811. 

United States declares war against Great Brit- 
ain, June 18, 1812. 

Great Britain revokes her " Orders in Coun- 
cil," June 23, 1812. 

Hull surrenders Detroit, August 16, 1812. 

Perry's victory on Lake Erie, September 10, 
1813. 

British capture and burn Washington, August 
24, 25, 1814. 

British repulsed at Baltimore, September 13, 
1814. 

Hartford Convention meets December 15, 1814. 

Treaty of peace signed at Ghent, December 
24, 1814. 

Battle of New Orleans, January 8, 1815. 

Second Bank of United States, April, 1816. 

Protective duties imposed on iron, etc., 1816. 

James Monroe, President, March 4, 1817. 

Erie Canal begun, July 4, 1817. 

The Savannah, the first steamship to cross the 
ocean, 1819. 

Florida bought from Spain, 1819. 

Missouri Compromise, 1820. 

Monroe Doctrine stated, December 2, 1823. 

Lafayette visits the United States, 1824, 1825. 

Protective tariflf passed, 1824. 



John Quincy Adams chosen President by the 
House of Representatives, February 9, 1825. 

John Quincy Adams, President, March 4, 1825. 

University of Virginia opened, March 25, 1825. 

Erie Canal opened, October 26, 1825. 

American Temperance Society organized at 
Boston, 1826. 

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (the first passen- 
ger road in America) begun at Baltimore, 
1828. 

The "Tariif of Abominations," 1828. 

Andrew Jackson, President, March 4, 1829. 

"Spoils System" in American politics begins, 
1829. 

Rise of the Mormons, 1830. 

Hayne and Webster debate in United States 
Senate, January, 1830. 

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad opened, 1830. 

Nat Turner Insurrection, 1831. 

John C. Calhoun proposes "Nulhfication," 
1831. 

William Lloyd Garrison begins to publish The 
Liberator, January 1, 1831. 

Jackson vetoes the bill for the renewal of the 
charter of the United States Bank, July 10, 
1832. 

South Carolina passes Nullification ordinance, 
November 19, 1832. 

Jackson issues his Nullification Proclamation, 
December 11, ia32. 

New England Antislavery Society formed, 1832. 

The Compromise tariif, March 2, 1833. 

Jackson's order for cessation of deposits, Sep- 
tember, 1833. 

New York Sun founded, 1833. 

Obed Hussey patents a reaper, 1833. 

Cyrus McCormick patents his reaping machin- 
ery, 1834. 

Antislavery riots, lS34r-1838. 

Great fire in New York, 1835. 

John Ericsson introduces screw propeller, 1836. 

Texas declares herself independent, March 2, 
1836. 

The Specie Circular issued, July 11, 1836. 

United States government free of debt, 1836. 

Martin Van Buren, President, March 4, 1837. 

Financial panic of 1837. 

United States Sub-Treasury System estab- 
lished, 1840. 

Liberty party formed, 1840. 

William Henry Harrison, President, March 4, 
1841. 

President Harrison dies, April 4, 1841. 

John Tyler, the Vice-President, becomes Presi- 
dent,'April4, 1841. 

Ashburton treaty with Great Britain, August 
7, 1842. 



CHIEF DATES IN AMERICAN HISTORY. xxxvii 



Protective tariff of 1S42. 

Dr. Whitman's ride, Oregon to St. Louis, 1842. 

Dorr War in Rhode Island, 1842. 

Anti-rent agitation in New York, 1842. 

Morse's telegraph set up between Baltimore 

and Washington ; first message, May 24, 1844. 
Congress passes joint resolution for annexation 

of Texas, March 3, 1845. 
James K. Polk, President, March 4, 1845. 
Texas annexed, July 4 ; admitted as a state, 

December 29, 1845. 
Naval Academy at Annapolis founded, 1845. 
Congress declares that war exists by the act of 

Mexico, May 13, 1846. 
Wilmot Proviso, August, 1846. 
Revenue tariff of 1846. 
Treaty with Great Britain relative to Oregon 

boundary, June 15, 1846. 
Elias Howe invents his sewng-machine, 1846. 
Sub-Treasury Act re-enacted, 1846. 
Smithsonian Institution founded, 1846. 
California and New Mexico seized, 1846. 
City of Mexico taken, 1847. 
Gold discovered in CaUfornia, January, 1848. 
Treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, February 2, 

1848. 
John Quincy Adams dies, February 23, 1848. 
Mormons emigrate to Utah, 1848. 
President Taylor dies, and Millai-d Fillmore 

succeeds, July 9, 1850. 
" Compromise of 1850." 
Fugitive Slave Law passed, 1850. 
Postage on letters reduced to three cents, 1851. 
Franklin Pierce President, March 4, 1853. 
World's Fair in New York, 1853. 
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" published in book 

form, 1852. 
Gadsden purchase, 1853. 
Kansas-Nebraska Bill passed. May 30, 1854. 
Perry's treat j' with Japan, 1854. 
Ostend Manifesto, 1854. 
The Republican party formed, 1854. 
James Buchanan, President, March 4, 1857. 
Dred Scott decision published, March 6, 1857. 
Business panic, 1857. 
First Atlantic cable, August, 1858. 
John Brown seizes Harper's Ferry, October 

16, 1859. 
South Carolina passes secession ordinance, 

December 20, 1860. 
Confederate Congress meets at Montgomery, 

Alabama, February 4, 1861. 
Confederate Constitution adopted, February 

8, 1861. 
Jefferson Davis and Alexander H. Stephens 

elected President and Vice-President of Con- 
federate states, February 9, 1S61. 



Abraham Lincoln, President, March 4, 1861. 
Fort Sumter fired upon, April 12, 1861. 
Fort Sumter surrendered, April 13, 1861. 
President Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteers, 
April 15, 1861. 

Civil War and Reconstruction, 
1861-1807. 

Massachusetts troops attacked in Baltimore, 

April 19, 1861. 
Eleven states passed ordinances of secession 

by June, 1861. 
First battle of BuU Run, July 21, 1861. 
Mason and Slidell taken from the Trent, 

November 8, 1861. 
Monitor and Merrimac, March 9, 1862. 
Farragut takes New Orleans, April 25, 1862. 
Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, Sep- 
tember 22, 1862. 
Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863. 
National Bank Act, March 25, 1863. 
Battle of Gettysburg, July 1, 2, 3, 1863. 
Surrender of Vicksburg, July 4, 1863. 
Draft riots in New York City, July 13-16, 

1863. 
Kearsarge sinks the Alabama off Cherbourg, 

France, June 19, 1864. 
Postal money order system adopted, 1864. 
Early's raid on Washington, July, 1864. 
Maryland abolishes slavery, October 10, 1864. 
Sherman takes Savannah, December 21, 1864. 
Richmond evacuated by Confederates, April 2, 

1865. 
Lee surrenders at Appomattox, April 9, 1865. 
President Lincoln assassinated, April 14, 1865. 
Andrew Johnson, President, April 15, 1865. 
Joseph E. Johnston surrenders to Sherman, 

April 26, 1865. 
Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, 

abolishing slaverj^ adopted, December 18, 

1865. 
Atlantic telegraph laid, July 28, 1866. 
Alaska bought, March 30, 1867. 
President Johnson impeached, 1868. 
Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution 

adopted, July 28, 1868. 
Ulysses S. Grant, President, March 4, 1869. 
Pacific Railroad completed. May 10, 1869. 
Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution 

adopted, March 80, 1870. 
All states represented in Congress, 1871. 

The New Nation, 1867-1893. 

Treaty of Washington, May 8. l!571. 
Chicago fire, October 8, 1871. 



XXXVlll 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Forest fires in Michigan and Wisconsin, Octo- 
ber, 1871. 

Geneva Arbitration results proclaimed, Sep- 
tember 14, 1872. 

Boston fire, November 9, 1872. 

Financial panic, 1873. 

Franking privilege abolished, July 1, 1873. 

Congress provides, January 14, 1875, for re- 
sumption of specie payment to begin Jan- 
uary 1, 1879. 

Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia, May to 
November, 1876. 

Electoral Commission, 1877. 

Kutherford 13. Hayes, President, March 4, 
1877. 

Great railroad strikes, 1877. 

Bland Silver Bill passed, February, 1878. 

Fishery dispute settled with Great Britain, 
1878. 

Resumption of specie payment, January 1, 
1879. 

Mississippi jetties, 1879. 

James A. Garfield, President, March 4, 1881. 

President Garfield assassinated, July 2, ISSl. 

President Garfield dies, September 19, 1881. 

Chester A. Arthur, President, September 19, 
1881. 

Yorktown celebration, October 19, 1881. 

Civil Service Act, 1883. 

Brooklyn Bridge finished. May 24, 1883. 



Letter postage reduced to two cents, 1883. 

Cotton exhibition at New Orleans, 1884. 

Washington Monument dedicated, February 
21, 1885. 

Grover Cleveland, President, March 4, 1885. 

Presidential Succession and Electoral Count 
Bills passed, 1886. 

Anarchist riot in Chicago, May, 1886. 

Charleston earthquake, 1886. 

Interstate Commerce Act, 1887. 

Centennial Celebration of adoption of Consti- 
tution, September 15-17, 1887. 

Chinese Immigration Act, 1888. 

Benjamin Harrison, President, March 4, 1889. 

Centennial celebration of Washington's inaugu- 
ration, April 29 to May 1, 18S9. 

Johnstown flood, May 31, 1889. 

Pan-American Congress, 1889, 1890. 

International Copyright Act, 1891. 

Homestead labor troubles, 1892. 

Grover Cleveland, President for the second 
time, March 4, 1893. 

Columbian Fair at Chicago, May 1, to October 
31, 1893. 

Bering Sea Arbitrators pubHsh their decision, 
August, 1893. 

Pullman strike, 1894. 

Coal miners' strike, 1894. 

William McKinley elected President, 1896. 

Venezuela Agreement, 1896. 



TOPICAL ANALYSIS. 



xxxix 



Appendix XL 



TOPICAL ANALYSIS. 



North America, 
1000-1492. 

Columbus, 1492. 



Other Discoverers, 
1493-1542. 



English Attempts at 

Colonization, 

1576-1605. 

French Attempts at 

Colonization, 

1540-1564. 

Spanish Attempts at 

Colonization, 

1565-1582. 

Dutch, 1626. 

Swedes, 1638. 



Dwellings, 

Habits, 

Kaces, territory covered. 



Early Inhabitants. 
Early Discoveries. 

f Education. 
i Aid received. 
[ San Salvador. 

The Cabots ; the Continent of North America. 

The Spaniards ; South of Virginia. 

Amerigo Vespucci ; South America. 

Ponce de Leon ; Florida. 

Balboa ; the Pacific. 

Magellan ; Circumnavigation of the World. 

Cortez ; Mexico. 

De Soto ; Mississippi River. 

(Frobisher. 
Sir Humphrey Gilbert. 
Sir Walter Ralegh. 
Gosnold. 

r Quebec. 

\ Port Royal (South Carolina). 

t St. Augustine (Fort Caroline). 

St, Augustine. 
Santa Fe. 
Mexico. 

New Amsterdam. 

On the Delaware. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Virginia, 
1606-1715. 



COLONIZATION. 

The London Company. 

The Plymouth Company. 

Jamestown, 

Captain John Smith. 

Slaves. 

First Representative Body. 

Virginia a Koyal Colony. 

Bacon's Kebellion. 

Prosperity. 

Indentured Servants. 



Maine (New Hamp- 
shire), 1627-1677. 



Maryland, 1632-1716. 





mouth. 


xvciigiuua ireiseuuLiuii ill xiiurupt;. 

The Pilgrims. /Hardships. 
^ ^ iMyles Standish. 


Massachusetts, 
I 620-1 644. 


Massa- 
chusetts - 


' The Puritans. 
John Endicott. 
Special Characteristics of the Colony 




Bay. 


Growth of Political Freedom. 




Religious Intolerance. 




_ 


- Boston. 




' Roger Williams. 




Providence founded. 


Rhode Island, 


Portsmouth founded. 


1636-1663. 


Newport founded. 




Religious Liberty. 




Charters granted. 




' Settlement. 


Connecticut, 


"Fundamental Orders of Connecticut." 


I 635-1 664. 


New Haven. 




. Charter. 





Settlement. 

Division into Maine and New Hampshire. 

Massachusetts acquires Maine. 

Lord Baltimore. 

Charter. 

Religious Toleration. 

Settlement. 

The " Toleration Act." 

Religious Troubles. 



TOPICAL ANALYSIS. 



xli 



New York, 1626-1691. 



New Jersey, 
1664-1738. 



The Carolinas, 
1663-1729. 



Pennsylvania, 
1681-1718. 



Delaware, 1682. 
Georgia, 1732. 



' Settlement. 
Grant to the Duke of York. 
Conflict with the English. 
Jacob Leisler. 
The Patroons. 
Education. 

Settlement. 

Government. 

East and West Jersey. 

William Penn. 

Presbyterian Influence. 

Royal Colony. 

Charter. 
John Locke. 
John Archdale. 
Division of Province. 
Character of Settlers. 
. Royal Colony. 

William Penn. 

Charter. 

Boundaries. 

The "Holy Experiment." 

Settlement. 

Penn's Treaty with Indians. 

Prosperity of the Colony. 

Bought by Penn. 

James Oglethorpe. 
The Charter. 
The Settlement. 
The Wesley s. 
A Royal Colony, 



ENGLISH, FRENCH, AND INDIANS. (1G36-1703.) 



English Colonists, 
1636-1700. 



I 



Political Condition. 

Aims. 

Relations with England. 

Relations with the Dutch. 



xlii 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



{English Colonists 
Untied.) 



■ con- 



French Colonists. 



First, Second, and 
Third Inter-Colonial 
Wars, 1689-1753- 



Fourth Inter-Colonial, 
or French and Indian 
War, 1754-1763. 



Relations with the Indians. 



Civil War in England. 
The Restoration. 
The Navigation Acts. 
Rule of Andros. 
Religious Intolerance. 
The Quakers. 
Witchcraft Delusion. 
Beliefs and Customs. 
Commerce, Piracy. 
Education. 
Slave Trade. 

Relations with the Indians. 
Aims. (Ma]).) 
Strength and Weakness. 



King William's War, 1689- 
1697. 



United Colonies 
of New Eng- 
land. 

William Penn. 
^ John Eliot. 

Pequot War. 

King Philip's 
War. 



Queen Anne's War, 1702 
1713. 

King George's War, 1744- 
1748. 

Effects on the Colonists. 

French and English Colonies. 
Ohio Company. 
Washington's Expedition. 
The Albany Convention. 
Franklin's Plan of Union. 
Lines of Attack. 



f Causes. 

Incidents. 
-| Congress of Eng- 
lish Colonies. 
[ Results. 



_ r 



Causes. 



-J Incidents. 
I Results, 
r Causes. 
■{ Incidents. 
I Results. 



TOPICAL ANALYSIS. 



xliii 



{Fourth Inter-Colonial, or 
French and Indian War 
— continued.) 



I 



Braddock's Defeat, 

Acadie. 

William Pitt. 

Marquis of Montcalm. 

Quebec. 

Conditions of Peace, 

Results. {Map.) 

Conspiracy of Pontiac. 



THE ENGLISH COLONIES AND THE REVOLUTION. (17G3-1782.) 

r Eighteenth Century Views on Economic Questions. 
Navigation Laws. 
Representation and Taxation. 
Stamp Act. 
" Sons of Liberty." 
Stamp Act Congress. 
Causes, etc., of the Political Condition of the Colonists. 

Revolution, -j Domestic Life. 

1763-1775. Townshend Acts. 

The "Farmer's Letters." 
Resistance in the Colonies. 
3L Action of the English Parliament. 

H The Five " Intolerable Acts." 

H The First Continental Congress. 

H Lexington and Concord. 

i 



The Revolution, 
1775-1782. 



Second Continental Congress. 

Bunker Hill. 

Washington, Commander-in-Chief. 

Canada. 

King and Colonists. 

Origin of the States. 

Declaration of Independence. 

British Plans of Attack. 

New York Campaign. (Map.) 

Burgoyne's Surrender. 

Lafayette. 

Howe's Philadelphia Campaign. 

Valley Forge ; Conway Cabal. 

French Alliance. 

Benjamin Franklin. 



xliv 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



{The Revolution 
ued.) 



contin- The Indians. 

John Paul Jones ; the American Navy. 

Western Settlements. 

Continental Money. 

Arnold's Treason. 

Southern Campaign. {Map.) 

General Nathanael Greene. 

Robert Morris. 

Yorktown. 

Peace. 



THE CONFEDERATION AND THE CONSTITUTION. (1782-1812.) 

Land Claims. {Map.) 
Western Reserve. 
Ordinance of 1787. 
Weakness of the Confederation. 
Shays' s Rebellion. 
Constitutional Convention. 

Its Strength. 
Its Compromises. 
Legislative Provisions. 
Executive Provisions, 
Judicial Provisions. 
Provision for Amendment. 
Checks and Balances. 
Adoption. 
The Federalist. 



The Confederation, 
1782-1787. 



The Constitution, 
1787-1789. 



PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION. 

Washinsrton, President. 



Washington's 

Administration, 

1789-1797. 



f Begmnmg. 
I . . 

{ Organization. 

Revenue. 



Government. 

[ Capital. 
New States. 
Whiskey Insurrection. 
Eli Whitney. 
Party Feeling. 
Relations with Europe. 
Jay's Treaty. 
I- Farewell Address. 



TOPICAL ANALYSIS. 



Xlv 



Period of Experiments 
in Foreign and Domes- 
tic Policy, 1797-1812. 



' John Adams, President. 
Difficulties with France. 
X. Y. Z. Correspondence. 
Alien and Sedition Laws. 
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions. 
Death of Washington. 
Permanent Capital. 
John Marshall, Chief Justice. 
The Federalists. 
Election of Thomas Jefferson. 
Thomas Jefferson, President. 
Louisiana Purchase. 
Lewis and Clark Expedition. 
War with Barbary States. 
Hamilton and Burr. 
Re-election of Jefferson. 
Public Improvements. 
European Affairs. 
Orders in Council. 
Berlin and Milan Decrees. 
Injuries to American Commerce. 
The Embargo. 
James Madison, President. 
Robert Fulton. 



WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN. (1812-1815.) 

Grievances of the United States. 

Condition of the United States. 

American Failures. {Map.) 

Naval Success. 

Creek War ; Andrew Jackson. 
War of 1812, ! British Plans and Successes. 

1812-1815. Southern Campaign. 

New Orleans. 

Peace of Ghent. 

Results of War. 

National Bank. 
. Algerine War. 



xlviii 



HISTORY OF TriE UNITED STATES. 



( Slavery Agitation 
tinned.) 



Ocean Telegraph ; Oil Fields. 

Dred Scott Decision. 

John Brown. 

Election of 1860. 

Secession. 

Confederate States of America. 

Peace Conference. 

Abraham Lincoln, President. 

Fall of Fort Sumter. 



Civil War, 1861, 



1862. 



1863. 



CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION. (1861-1877.) 

Effect of the Fall of Sumter. 

Call for Volunteers. 

Attack in Baltimore. 

The Blockade. 

North and South compared. {Map.) 

Battle of Bull Run. 

General McClellan. 

Mason and Slidell. 

Condition of Affairs, January, 1862. 

Western Campaigns. 

Monitor and Merrimac. 

New Orleans taken. 

Peninsula Campaign. (Map.) 

General Robert E. Lee. 

" Stonewall" Jackson. 

Fredericksburg. 

Antietam. 

Slavery ; " Contrabands." 

Emancipation Proclamation announced. 

Emancipation Proclamation issued. 

Sioux War. 

Campaign in the West. 

Campaign in the East. Gettysburg. 

Vicksburg ; Chattanooga. 

Morgan's Raid. 

The Blockade. 

Privateers ; The Alabama. 

Conscription, North and South. 

Finances, North and South. 



TOPICAL ANALYSIS. 



xlix 



{Civil War, 1863 
tied.) 



1864, 



contin- 



1865. 



Reconstruction 
Period, 1865-1877. 



National Bank Act. 

Union Armies, East and West. 

General Grant placed at Head of Union Army 

Grant and Sherman's Plans. 

Early's Raid. 

Sheridan in Shenandoah Valley. 

Sherman's March. 

Confederate Cruisers. 

Peace Party in the North. 

Peace Negotiations. 

Lincoln's Second Inaugural. 

Richmond evacuated. 

Lee's Surrender. 

President Lincoln assassinated. 

Andrew Johnson, President. 



The War. 



r Effects 



f Moral. 



I Ji,nects. < 

ICost. ^I'olitical. 



Sanitary and Christian Commissions. 

Andrew Johnson. 

Provisional Governors in the South. 

Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution. 

Eourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. 

Reconstruction Acts. 

Six States admitted ; "Carpet-Baggers." 

Tenure of Office Act. 

Impeachment of the President. 

Atlantic Telegraph Cable. 

Alaska bought. {3Iap. Territorial Growth.) 

French in Mexico. 

Ulysses S. Grant, President. 

Expatriation. 

Chinese Treaty. 

Pacific Railroad finished. 

" Kuklux Klan." 

Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution. 

Civil Rights, and Election Acts. 

Indian Peace Policy. 

Alabama Claims ; Geneva Arbitration. 

Fisheries Award. 

Northwest Boundary Decision. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



(^Reconstruction Period - 
continued.) 



r Chicago. 
Fires. \ Forest. 

[ Boston. 
Liberal Republicans. 
Horace Greeley. 
The "Modoc War." 
Grant's Second Term. 
Commercial Crisis, 1873. 
Temperance Crusade. 
Weather Bureau. 
Credit Mobilier. 
"Franking" abolished. 
Republican Political Reverses, 
Resumption Act. 
Centennial Exhibition. 
Telephone and Electricity. 
Sioux War. 

Impeachment of Belknap. 
Returning Boards. 
Electoral Commission, 



RECENT GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. (1877-1893.) 



Recent Growth and 

Development, 

1877-1893. 



Rutherford B. Hayes, President. 

Withdrawal of Troops from the South. 

Mississippi Jetties. 

Resumption of Specie Payments. 

James A. Garfield, President. 

Assassination of the President. 

Chester A. Arthur becomes President. 

Anti-Polygamy Bill. 

Civil Service Act. 

Mississippi Floods. 

Brooklyn Bridge. 

Yorktown Centennial. 

New Orleans Cotton Exhibition. 

The South in 1884. 

George Peabody. 

Election of 1884. 

Grover Cleveland, President. 



TOPICAL ANALYSIS. 



li 



( Recent Growth and De- 
velopment — continued.) 



Economic, Social, and 
Literary Conditions. 



Important Acts of Con- 
gress. 



Labor Troubles. 

Knights of Labor. 

Strikes. 

Charleston Earthquake. 

Statue of Liberty. 

Surplus Revenue, 

Benjamin Harrison, President. 

Oklahoma. 

Washington Centennial. 

Johnstown Disaster. 

Forty-four States. 

Pan-American Congress. 

Filibustering in Congress. 

' McKinley Bill. 



Presidential Succession. 
Electoral Count. 
Interstate Conmierce. 
Chinese Exclusion. 



Later Acts 
Congress. 



of 



Pension Bill. 

" Sherman Act." 

International Copyright. 



Democratic Success. 

Census of 1890. 

New Orleans Riot. 

Chile Troubles. 

Bering Sea Arbitration. 

Ballot Reform. 

Homestead Labor Troubles. 

Columbian Celebration. 

Election of 1892. 

Grover Cleveland again President. 

Columbian Exhibition. 

Repeal of Sherman Act. 

Financial Crisis of 1893. 

Hawaiian Difficulties. 



United States in 1893. 

Interstate Emigration. 

Foreign Immigration. 

Urban Population. 

Irrigation. 

Forest Reservations. 



{Map.) 



lii 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



{Economic. Social, and 
Literary Conditions - 
continued.) 



Social Affairs ; 
Politics; Diplomacy. 



Natural Gas. 
Invention. 

Transportation ; Inland Commerce. 
The New South. 
Pacific Coast. 
Edvication. 

Libraries and Associations. 
Literature. 
L Newspapers. 

"Wilson Bill," Senate Bill. 
Pullman and Kailroad Strikes. 
Coal Miners' Strikes. 
" Common wealers." 
New York City Reforms. 
Anti-Lottery Bill. 
National Military Park. 
Atlanta Exposition. 
The Indians. 

Admission of Utah, Jan. 4, 1896. 
Republican Nominations, 1896. 
Democratic Nominations, 1896. 
"Populist" and Other Nominations, 1896. 
The Presidential Campaign, 1896. 
•- Venezuelan Difficulty. 



( 



WORKS FOR TEACHERS AND READERS. liii 



Appendix XII. 



A SHORT LIST OF WORKS FOR TEACHERS AND READERS. 

Note. — The references at the beginning of every chapter of the foregoing 
History being full, only general works are given in this list. References to 
advanced works, such as Von Hoist's Constitutional History of the United 
States, have been purposely omitted. A vast amount of useful and important 
information is contained in the Periodical Literature of the past few years ; most 
libraries possess Poole's Index to Periodical Literature, with its supplements, 
by means of which consultation of periodicals is made easy. 

I. Books, etc., containing Original Documents, and Sources of 
American History. 

Howard W. Preston, Documents illustrative of American History, 1606- 
1863, New edition. $2.50. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York. 

Old South Leaflets, edited by Edwin D. Mead. Five and ten cents a 
number. Directors of the Old South Work, Boston. Seventy-five numbers 
already issued ; others to follow. An invaluable collection of original docu- 
ments illustrative of American History. List furnished on application to the 
publishers. 

American History Leaflets, edited by Albert B. Hart and Edward Chan- 
ning. Ten cents per number. A. Lovell & Co., New York. A series similar 
to the Old South Leaflets. Twenty-four numbers issued ; others to follow. 
Another excellent series. List furnished on application to publishers. 

Library of American Literature from the Earliest Settlement to the Present 
Time, edited by Edmund Clarence Stedman and Ellen M. Hutchinson. 
11 vols. 8vo. $3.00 per volume. W. E. Benjamin, New York, 1891. 

Bepresentative American Orations to illustrate American Political History, 
edited by Alexander Johnston. 4 vols. New edition. $5.00. G. P. Put- 
nam's Sons, New York. Cover the period 1775-1881. Valuable introductions. 

Mary Sheldon Barnes and Earl Barnes, Studies in American History. 
$1.25. D. C. Heath & Co., Boston, 1892. Has many extracts from original 
sources, and can be used to great profit with a narrative History. 

American Almanac, 1830-1861 ; Spofford's American Almanac, 1878-1889 ; 
Tribune Almanac (begun as the Whig Almanac), New York, 1838-1897 ; 
the World Almanac, New York, 1887-1897. For general statistics, etc., of 



liv HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the world, The Statesmen's Tear Book. $3.00 per volume. 1863-1896. 
Macmillan & Co., London and New York. Whitaker's Almanack. 1869- 
1896. $1.00 per volume. HazelVs Annual, 1886-1896, London. $1.50 per 
volume. 

II. Bibliographies and Aids. 

Charles Kendall Adams, Manual of Historical Literature. New edition. 
New York, Harper's, 1889. $2.50. 

W. F. Allen, History Topics for the Use of High Schools and Colleges. 
Paper, thirty cents. Boston, D. C. Heath & Co., 1890. 

W. E. Foster, Beferences to History of Presidential Administrations, 
1789-1885. Paper, twenty-five cents. New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons. 

E. E. Sparks, Topical Beference Lists in American History. Columbus, 
0., A. H. Smythe, 1893. 

Epochs of American History. Valuable bibliographies prefixed to each 
volume, and also to each chapter. See page Iv. 

Justin Winsor, The Header's Handbook of the American Bevolution. 
1761-1783. $1.00. Boston, 1880. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 

Justin Winsor, Narrative and Critical History of America. 8 vols. Royal 
8vo. $40.00. Boston, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1885-1889. Valuable bib- 
liographies, illustrations, facsimiles, etc. A great storehouse of facts. 

3Iethods of Teaching and Studying History, edited by G. Stanley Hall. 
Second edition. $1.50. Boston, D. C. Heath & Co. 

W. F. Gordy and W. I. Twitchell, A Pathfinder in American History, 
Parts I. and II. $1.20. Boston, 1893. Lee and Shepard. Containing 
special reference lists for various grades, outline courses, topics, bibliog- 
raphies, suggestions. A valuable help to the teacher. 

Hannah A. Davidson, Beference History of the United States for High 
Schools and Academies. Ninety cents. Boston, Ginn & Co., 1892. A 
topical analysis, with exact references to various works. 

John F. Sargent, Beading for the Young. $1.00. Boston, Library Bureau. 
1890. Contains bibliography of American History for youth of all ages. 

E. Channing and A. B. Hart, Guide to the Study of American History. 
$2.00. Boston, Ginn & Co., 1896. By far the most complete work on the 
subject. Chiefly for advanced classes. 

B. A. Hinsdale, Hoio to teach and study History, loith particular reference 
to the History of the United States. $1.50. New York, D. Appleton & Co., 
1894. An excellent work. 

Mary Sheldon Barnes, Studies in Historical Method. Ninety cents. 
Boston, D. C. Heath & Co., 1896. A valuable and very suggestive little 
work. 

Carl Ploetz, Epitome of Ancient, Mediceval, and Modern History. Trans- 



WORKS FOR TEACHERS AND READERS. Iv 

lated^ with extensive additions^ by William H. Tillinghast. Second edition. 
$3.00. Boston, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1884. The best book of its class, and 
invaluable for reference. 

Annie E. Wilson, Compendium of United States History and Literature. 
Forty cents. Boston, D. C. Heath & Co., 1896. 

III. Maps. (Beference ; and Outline for PupiVs Use.) 

A. B. Hart, Epoch Maps illustrating American History. Fifty cents. 
Longmans & Co., New York, 1891. An excellent series of fourteen maps 
prepared for Epochs of American History. Illustrates "The Historical 
Geography of the United States and of the Previous Colonies." 

Townsend MacCoun, An Historical Geography of the United States. New 
edition. $1.00. Silver, Burdett & Co., Boston, 1890. A series of forty-five 
maps, iliustrating American History from the earliest times to 1890. Accom- 
panied by an explanatory text ; a very useful little book. 

A. B. Hart and Edward Channing, Outline Maps of the United States. 
The large map is in four sections, each 26 x 42 inches. Price, fifteen cents 
one section ; fifty cents, complete. The small map is 1\\ x 18 inches. Price, 
two cents ; $1.50 per hundred. D. C. Heath &, Co., Boston. Messrs. Heath 
& Co. also publish a series of Progressive Outline Maps, United States, New 
England, Middle Atlantic States, Southern States, Eastern Division ; Southern 
States, Western Division ; Central States, Eastern Division ; Central States, 
Western Division ; Pacific States ; the Great Lakes. Two cents each ; $1.50 
per hundred ; also an Intermediate Outline Map of the United States for 
Historical and Geographical study, 28 x 40 inches. Thirty cents. 

IV. General Histories, etc. 

George Bancroft, A History of the United States from the Discovery of 
America. Author's last revision. D. Appleton & Co. , New York, 1886-1888. 
6 vols. #15.00. Very full. Ends with 1789. 

Richard Hildreth, A History of the United States (to 1821). 6 vols. $18.00. 
Harper's, New York. One of the best accounts of the period. 

James Schouler (Skool'er), History of the United States under the Consti- 
tution, 1789-1861. 5 vols. $11.25. Dodd, Mead & Co., New York, 1880-1891. 
The best account of the period. Forms, with either Bancroft or Hildreth, a 
continuous history from the earliest period. A supplementary volume, cov- 
ering the Civil War, is announced. 

William C. Bryant and Sydney H. Gay, Popular History of the United 
States. 4 vols. $24.00. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. Sold by sub- 
scription. Profusely illustrated. Particularly strong on colonial history. 



Ivi HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Henry Adams, History of the United States, 1801-1817. 9 vols. $18.00. 
Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. Very full. 

J. B. McMaster, History of the People of the United States from the Be vo- 
lution to the Civil War. 6 vols. (4 vols, published). $2.50 per volume. 
D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1883-1892. Dwells largely on social history. 

A. B. Hart, editor, Epochs of American History. 3 vols. $1.2.5 per volume. 
1. R. G. Thwaites, The Colonies, 1492-1750 ; 2. A. B. Hart, Formation of 
the Union, 1750-1829; 3. W. Wilson, Division and Reunion, 1829-1889. 
"With full marginal analyses, working bibliographies, maps and indices." 
Longmans & Co. , New York, 1891-1893. Invaluable for the full and exact 
references, if for nothing else. The third volume is written from a point of 
view which differs much from that of the first two volumes. 

The American History Series. 5 vols. 1. George P. Fisher, The Colonial 
Era, 1492-1756 ; 2. William M. Sloane, The French War and the Bevolution, 
1756-1787 ; 3. Francis A. Walker, The Makinrj of the Nation, 1787-1815. 
$1.25 each. 4. John W. Burgess, The Middle Period (1815-1858), .$1.75. 
5. John W. Burgess, Civil War and Reconstruction, in preparation. Charles 
Scribner's Sons, New York, 1892-1897. A series somewhat similar to the 
" Epoch Series" just named, but more popular in treatment. 

Richard Frothingham, The Rise of the Republic of the United States. New 
edition. $3.50. Little, Brown & Co., Boston. Excellent. 

Henry Cabot Lodge, A Short History of the English Colonies in America. 
$3.00. Harper's, New York. Despite some faults, probably the best single 
volume on the subject. 

Samuel Adams Drake, The Making of New England; The Making of 
Virginia and the Middle Colonies ; The Making of the Ohio Valley States; 
and The Making of the Great West. $1.50 each. Charles Scribner's Sons, 
New York, 1886-1894. An excellent series of handbooks. 

James F. Rhodes, History of the United States from the Compromise of 
1850 (3 vols, published). $2.50 per volume. Harper's, New York, 1893. 
Specially strong on the history of Slavery. Best history of the period. 

Francis Parkman, France and England in North America. 12 vols. 
$18.00. Little, Brown & (^o., Boston. Invaluable for the history of the 
French in America. 

John Fiske, The Discovery of America, 2 vols.; Beginnings of New Eng- 
land; The American Revolution, 2 yo\s.; The Critical Period of American 
History, 1783-1789, $2.00 per volume. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston, 

E. Benj. Andrews, The Last Quarter- Century in the United States, 1870- 
1895. 2 vols. $6.00. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1896. Richly 
illustrated. A panorama of events rather than a history. 

J. N. Larned, History for Ready Reference, etc. 5 vols. $25.00. C. A. 



WORKS FOR TEACHERS AN;D READERS. Ivii 

Nichols Co., Springfield, Mass., 1894-1895. The fifth volume is almost 
wholly given up to the United States. The work consists of extracts from 
the principal historians, and is furnished with valuable maps, original docu- 
ments, etc. 

B. J. Lossing, Harper's Popular Cyclopcedia of United States History. 
2 vols. New York, 1881. 

N. S. Shaler, editor. The United States of America : A Study of the Amer- 
ican Commonwealth^ Its Natural Resources, People, etc. 2 vols. $10.00. 
D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1894. 

James Bryce, Social Institutions of the United States. .^1.00. Macmillan 
& Co., New York. Selected chapters from his The American Commonwealth. 

Edward Eggleston, A History of Life in the United States (one volume 
published), The Beginners of a Nation. $1.50. D. Appleton & Co., New 
York, 1896. 

V. Constitutional and Political Works. ' 

John J. Lalor, editor, Cyclopcedia of Political Science, Political Economy, 
and of the Political History of the United States. 3 vols. -$18.00. D. D. 
Merrill Co., New York. The articles on United States history and politics 
are by Alexander Johnston, and are of high value. 

Alexander Johnston, History of American Politics, 1783-1881. $1.00. 
H. Holt & Co., New York. Impartial ; the only brief work of the kind. 

Edward Stanwood, History of Presidential Elections, 1789-1892. New 
edition. $1.50. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston, 1896. A non-parli.san 
account, with statistics of all presidential elections to 1892, and with political 
platforms of 1896. 

Israel W. Andrews, Manual of the Constitution. $1.00. American Book 
Co., New York. An excellent compendium. 

Charles F. Dole, The American Citizen. $1.00. D. C. Heath & Co., 
Boston. 

C. T. Hopkins, Manual of American Ideas. $1.50. D. C. Heath & Co., 
Boston. 

Both the works just named are valuable for inculcating right views of 
citizenship. 

John Fiske, Civil Government in the United States. $1.00. Houghton, 
Mifflin & Co., Boston, 1890. Written in the author's entertaining style. 
One of the best books on the subject. 

F. N. Thorpe, The Government of the People of the United States. $1.00. 
New edition. Eldredge «Sb Bro., Philadelphia. Very full. 

Jesse Macy, Our Government. Eighty-five cents. New edition. Ginn 
& Co., Boston. 



Iviii HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Woodrow Wilson, The State and Federal Governments of the United 
States. Fifty-five cents. D. C. Heath & Co., Boston. The part relating to 
the United States in Professor Wilson's larger work, — The State. 

James Bryce, The American Commonwealth. Revised edition. 2 vols. 
$4.00. The Macmillan Co., New York, 1895. The ablest study of American 
Institutions. 

James Bryce. The American Commomvealth. Abridged edition. $1.75. 
The Macmillan Co., New York, 1896. 

VI. Biographies. 

Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography, edited by John Fiske and 
Jas. Grant Wilson. 6 vols. $30.00. D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1889. 
The most complete work of the kind. 

American Statesmen Series, edited by John T. Morse, Jr. $1.25 per 
volume. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston. An admirable series of Ameri- 
can political biographies. List furnished on application to publishers. 

Makers of America Series. $1.00 per volume. Dodd, Mead & Co., New 
York, 1890-1893. A very unequal collection. 

Jared Sparks, editor, Library of American Biography. 10 vols. 16mo. 
Harper's, New York. $12.50. Volumes sold separately. This series con- 
tains biographies not easily accessible elsewhere, and though an old work, is 
still worthy of consultation. Note : This is the second series ; the first series 
has long been out of print. 

ADDENDA. 

Sources of American History. 

American Colonial Tracts. "A monthly series of reprints of some of the 
more valuable pamphlets relating to the early history of America." Single 
numbers at 25 cents each, or $3.00 by the year. George P. Humi^hrey, 
Rochester, N.Y. List furnished on application to the publisher. 

Albert Bushnell Hart, American History told by Contemporaries. 4 vols. 
$2.00 per vol. I. Era of Colonization, 1493-1089 ; II. Building of the Re- 
public, 1689-1783 ; III. National Expansion, 1783-1844 ; IV. Welding of the 
Nation, 1845-1897. The Macmillan Co., New York. (Vols. II.-IV. are in 
preparation.) 



INDEX. 



Abolitionists, 217-219, 265. 

riots, 223. 

rise of, 217. 
Acadie, English treatment of, 74. 
Adams, John, Vice-President, 145. 

elected President, 154. 

dies, 199. 
Adams, John Quincy, chosen President, 
192. 

appoints Clay Secretary of State, 193. 

his life and character, 193. 

unpopular, 196. 

"gag resolutions," 218. 
Adams, Samuel, 95. 

proposes committees of correspond- 
ence, 95. 

attempt to arrest, 98. 

opposes Constitution, 137. 
Agricultural implements, 213. 
Alabama, the, 302, 319. 
Alabama claims, 345. 
Alaska, bought, 338. 
Albany Convention, 72. 
Alexandria, Constitutional Convention 

proposed, 135. 
Algiers, war with, 179. 
Algonkin Indians, 4. 
Alien and Sedition Laws, 156. 
Allen, Ethan, 99. 

Amendments to the Constitution, 143, 
147. 

Thirteenth, 333. 

Fourteenth, 334. 

Fifteenth, 342. 
America, discovered by Columbus, 6. 

discovered by Northmen, 4. 

continent of, discovered by Cabots, 6. 

early inhabitants, 2-4. 

name given, 7. 



American Association for Advancement 

of Science, 407. 
American Party, 257. 
American Philosophical Society, 407. 
"American System, The," 200. 
Amerigo Vespucci (Ah-mer-ee-go Ves- 

poot'chee) , 7. 
Anaesthetics, 230. 
Anarchists in Chicago, 379. 
Anderson, Major Robert, 273. 
Andre', Major, 125. 
Andros, Sir Edmund, 40, 56. 
Annapolis Conference, 135. 
Antietam, 293. 
Anti-Federalists, 137. 
Anti-Masonic Party, 198. 
" Anti-Nebraska men," 263. 
"Anti-Renters," 229. 
Anti-Lottery Legislation, 387, 414. 
Antislavery. See Abolitionists. 
Antislavery Society, 217. 
Appomattox, surrender at, 326. 
Arbitration, Geneva, 345, 347. 

Bering Sea, 393, 395. 
Archdale, John, Governor of the Caro- 

linas, 30. 
Arnold, Benedict, 124-126. 
Arthur, Chester A., Vice-President, 365. 

becomes President, 366. 
Articles of Confederation, 133. 
Ashburton Treaty, 226. 
Associations for research, 407. 
Asylums, blind, deaf-mutes, insane, 215. 
Atlanta Exposition, 414. 
Atlantic telegraph, 266, 338. 
Australian Ballot, 391. 
Authors, Amei-ican, 216, 408. 



Bacon, Nath., Rebellion in Virginia, 28. 
Bahamas discovered by Columbus, 0. 



lix 



Ix 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Balboa (Balbo'a) discovers the Pacific, 7. 
Ballot, voting by, 21. 
Ballot reform, 391. 
Baltimore, the Lords, 25-27. 
Baltimore, attack on Massachusetts 

troops, 278. 
Baltimore and Ohio railroad, 212. 
Banks, Bank of North America, 123. 

First Bank of United States, 180 
(note). 

Second Bank of United States, 180. 

"Pet Banks," 220. 

"Wildcat Banks," 221. 

National Banks, 1863, 307. 
Barbary States, Avar with, 163. 
Barclay, Robert, 40. 
Belknap, W. AV., 356. 
Bering Sea, 390, 395. 
Berkeley, Governor of Virginia, 28. 
Berlin Decree, 166. 
Bibliographies, etc.. Appendix XII., p. 

liii. 
" Black Hawk War," 208. 
"Bland Silver Bill," 362. 
Blockade of southern ports, 279, 301. 
" Blue Laws," 61 (note). 
Boone, Daniel, 120. 
Boston, founded, 23. 

Latin School, 405. 

" Massacre," 92. 

" Tea Party," 94. 

Port Bill, 94. 

evacuated, 102. 

fire, 348. 
Boundary disputes, Ashburton Treaty, 

22(). 
Boundary, Northwest, 346. 
" Boycotting," 378. 
Braddock's expedition, 74. 
Bradford, Governor William, 17. 
Bragg, General Braxton, 293, 299. 
Brandywine, Battle of, 113. 
Brooklyn Bridge, 369. 
Brown, .John, 268. 
Bryan, William J., 416. 
Bryn Mawr College, 405, 40(5. 
Buchanan, James, "Ostend Manifesto," 
259. 

elected President, 264. 

life, 2()5. 

on secession, 272. 



Bull Run, first battle of, 283. 
Bull Run, second battle, 292. 
Bunker Hill, 102. 
Burgoyne's surrender. 111. 

importance, 116. 
Burnside, General A. E., 293. 
Burr, Aaron, Vice-President, 159. 

duel with Hamilton, 165. 

tried for treason, 165. 
Butler, Gen. B. F., at New Orleans, 290 

calls slaves contraband, 294. 

candidate for President, 374. 
Buzzards Bay, 10. 
Byllinge, Edward, 39. 



Cabot, John and Sebastian, 6. 
Cable. See Atlantic Telegraph. 
Calhoun, John C, proposes nullifica- 
tion, 205. 

as an orator, 216. 

dies, 253. 
California, seized by United States, 239, 
240. 

discovery of gold, 244. 

rush to the gold fields, 245. 

sets up a state government, 248. 
Calvert, Sir George, 25. 
Calvert, Cecilius, 25. 
Calvert, Leonard, in Maryland, 26. 
Canada and the Thirteen Colonies, 102. 

uprising in, 1837, 223. 
Capital, permanent capital of United 

States selected, 148. 
Carolinas, the, 30-33. 

origin of name, 30. 

model government, 30, 31. 

division, 31, 32. 
Carpenter's Hall, 96. 
"Carpet Baggers," 335. 
Carteret, Sir George, 39. 
Catholics in Maryland, 26, 27. 
Census of 18.50, 251. 

of 1890, 389. 
Centennial Exhibition, 354. 
Centre of population, 389. 
Chancellors ville, 298. 
Charleston taken by British, 126. 
Charleston earthquake, 379. 
Charters : 

London Company (Virginia), 12. 



INDEX. 



Ixi 



Charters : 

Plymouth Company, 12. 

Massachusetts Bay, 17, 57. 

Rhode Island (Patent) , 22, 23. 

Connecticut, 24. 

Maryland, 25. 

Carolinas, 27. 

New Jersey, 38. 

Pennsylvania, 42. 

Georgia, 33. 
Charters, resigned or lost, Plymouth 
Company, 24. 

Maryland, 27. 

Virginia, 28. 

Carolinas, 32. 

New Jersey, 41. 

Massachusetts, 56. 
Charters, restoration of, 1691, 57. 
"Charter Oak" in Connecticut, 56. 
Chase, Salmon P., in Congress, 254. 

Chief Justice, 324. 
Chautauqua Circle, 406. 
Cherokees in Georgia, 198, 207. 
Cherry Valley, Massacre of, 118. 
Chesapeake and Leopard, 167. 
Chicago in 1833, 213 (note) . 

fire, 347. 

Columbian Exposition, 388, 392, 397. 
Chicago University, 405. 
Chickaraauga, 300. 
Chickamauga and Chattanooga Military 

Park, 414. 
Chile, difficulty with, 390. 
China, Burlingame's Treaty, 341. 
Chinese Exclusion Act, 376. 
Christian Commission, 329. 
Christina settled, 14. 
Circumnavigation of the world, 8. 
Civil Rights Bill, 334. 
Civil Service Act, 367. 
Civil War, 276-330. 

first blood shed, 278. 

North and South compared, 1861, 279. 

review of, during 1861, 286. 

peninsula campaign, 290. 

Lee invades Pennsylvania, 298. 

western campaign, 1863, 297. 

review of, during 1863, 307-309. 

effect of physical features of the 
country, 308. 

Savannah evacuated, 318. 



Civil War, peace negotiations, 324. 

Richmond evacuated, 325. 

Lee's surrender, 325. 

Johnston's surrender, 327. 

losses from, 328. 

review of armies in Washington, 328. 

moral effect of, 327. 

cost of, 329. 

Sanitary and Christian Commissions, 
329. 

what it settled, 330. 
Civil war in England, effect in America, 

55. 
Clark, George Rogers, 121. 
Clark University, 405. 
Clay, Henry, Missouri Compromise, 189. 

Secretary of State, 193. 

as an orator, 216. 

compromise, 1850, 249. 

defeated for presidency, 234. 

dies, 253. 
Cleveland, Grover, life, 374. 

President, 374. 

civil service under, 375. 

again President, 395. 
Clinton, De Witt, and Erie Canal, 187. 
Coal, anthracite, 213. 
Coal-miners' strike, 413. 
Coal oil, 267. 

Collegiate School, New York, 405. 
Colonial beliefs and customs, 60. 

Commerce, 61. 

money, 61. 

"Blue Laws," 61 (note). . 

social life, 62. 

education, 63. 

intercourse, 65. 

wars. See Intercolonial. 
Colonies, charter, proprietary, royal, 88. 
Colonies, English, political condition of, 
88. 

domestic life and manners of, 89. 

resistance to Great Britain, 91. 
Colonists, English, relations with In- 
dians, 47^9. 

in 1700, 47. 

reasons for coming to the New World , 
50. 
Colonization, early attempts at, 8. 

English, 8. 

French, 10. 



Ixii 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Colonization, Spanish, 10. 
reasons for failure, 10. 
Colorado, 355. 

Columbia River, named, 163. 
Columbian Exposition, Chicago selected, 
388. 
dedication, 393. 
character, 397. 
Columbus, life, voyages, discoveries, 

5, 6. 
Commerce of United States, injured by 

Great Britain and France, 167. 
" Committees of Correspondence," 95. 
Compromise, Missouri, 188, 189. 

of 1850, 249. 
Comstock lode, 267. 
Concord and Lexington, 98. 
Conestoga wagons, 210. 
Confederate states of America, set up, 
270. 
constitution of, 271. 
like the colonies, 271. 
flag, 279. 

Richmond the capital, 282. 
attitude of Ein-ope, 283. 
opinion of United States Supreme 
Court, 342. 
Confederation, Articles of, 133. 

weakness of, 134, 135. 
Congress, first of the colonies, 65. 
Continental. See Continental. 
Connecticut, Hartford, 23. 

Wethersfield, 23. ' 

Windsor, 23. 

"Fundamental orders," 23. 
"Blue Laws," 61 (note). 
Conscription, North and South, 303. 
Conspiracy of Pontiac, 79. 
Constitution of United States, document. 

Appendix, p. viii. 
Constitution, compromises of, 136. 
signed, 137. 
adoption of, 138-140. 
amendments proposed, 139. 
amendments, 147, 333, 334, 342. 
its provisions, etc., 140-143. 
checks and balances, 143. 
defect regarding election of Presi- 
dent, 155. 
Constitution, the, 174. 
Constitutional Convention, 135-137. 



Continental Congress, the first, 96. 
Continental Congress, the second, 101. 

issues paper money, 101. 
Continental Congress, hampers Wash- 
ington, 115. 

comes to an end, 147. 
Continental money, depreciation of, 121, 

122. 
" Conway Cabal," 114. 
Cornwallis, Lord, in the South, 128. 

surrenders at Yorktown, 129, 130. 
Cortez conquers Mexico, 8. 
Cotton-gin, Whitney invents, 150. 

effect upon South, 217. 
Cotton Exhibition, 371. 
Credit Mobilier, 351, 352 (note). 
Creeks, War, 174. 

difficulties with, 197. 
Crisp, Chas. F., Speaker, 389, 396. 
Cromwell, O., his policy towards English 

colonies, 55. 
Cuba, annexation project, 259. 



Dakota Indians, 4. 

Dare, Virginia, 9. 

Davis, Jefferson, becomes a leader, 253. 

President of Confederacy, 271. 

taken, 327. 
"Dawes Bill," 415. 

Dearborn, General H., burns York (To- 
ronto), 173. 
Declaration of Independence, a logical 
result, 103. 

proposed by Richard Henry Lee, 105. 

drafted by Jefferson, 106. 

adopted, 106. 

how received, 107. 

the document. Appendix, p. iv. 
Declaratory Act, 87. 
Delaware, 42, 45. 
Democratic party named, 200. 
Democratic-Republicans, 151. 
De Soto, his expedition, 8. 
Dickinson, John, 91. 
Discoveries, early, English, 6. 

French, 6. 

Spanish, 6. 

Portuguese, 6. 
"Dorr War," 227, 



INDEX. 



Ixiii 



Douglas, Stephen A., becomes a leader, 
253. 

Kansas-Nebraska Bill, 256. 

" Squatter Sovereignty," 256. 

debate with Lincoln, 278. 
Drafts. See Conscription. 
Dred Scott Case, 264. 
Dutch, the, in America, 14. 

settlements, 34-37. 

disputes with English, 34-37. 

recapture New York, 37. 



E. 

Eads, James B., 364. 

Early's Raid, 313. 

Economic views of eighteenth century, 

81-83. 
Edison, Thomas A., 403. 
Education, 63, 215, 405. 

in colonies, 63. 

in New Netherlands, 38. 

normal schools, 215. 

review of progress, 405. 
Elections, of 1856, 264. 

of 1860, 269. 

of 1874, 353. 

of 1884, 373. 

of 1888, 381. ■ 

of 1892, 392. 

of 1893, 396. 

of 1894, 415. 

of 1896, 416. 
Electoral Commission, 358. 
Electoral Count Act, 376. 
Eliot, John, the "Apostle to the In- 
dians," 49. 

translation of the Bible, 49. 
Emancipation Proclamation, 294-296. 
Embargo Act, 168. 
Emigration. See Immigration. 
Emigration, interstate, 400. 
Endicott, John, a typical Puritan, 18. 
England, struggle for colonial empire, 
69-77. 

her policy towards the colonists, 80. 

" Orders in Council," 167. 
"Era of Good Feeling," 183. 
"Era of III Feeling," 199. 
Ericsson, John, introduces the propeller, 
214. 



Ericsson, John, invents the Monitor, 

289. 
Erie Canal, 187. 
"Evangeline," 74. 
Expatriation, 340. 
Expositions, 254, 354, 392, 414. 
Extradition of criminals, 226. 

F. 

Farmers' Alliance, 387. 

" Farmer's Letters," 90. 

Farragut, D. G., at New Orleans, 289. 

at Mobile, 318. 
"Federalist, The," 138. 
Federalists, the, 137, 151, 156. 

their influence, 159. 
Fen wick, John, 39. 

Field, Cyrus W., the first Atlantic tele- 
graph, 266. 

second Atlantic telegraph, 328. 
Filibustering in Congress, 385. 
Filibusters, 259. 
Fillmore, Millard, Vice-President, 247. 

President, 248. 
Financial crisis, of 1837, 221. 

of 1873, 350. 

of 1893, 396. 
Fires, Chicago, forest, Boston, 347. 
Fishery Claims, 6, 347. 
Fitch, John, 170. 
Flag, of the colonies, 104. 

of confederate states, 279. 

of United States, 1890, 384. 
Florida discovered and named, 7. 

session of, 184. 
Florida, the, 302, 319. 
Foote, Commodore A. H., at Fort 
Henry, 288. 

Island No. 10, 288. 
"Force Bill," 343. 
Foreign loans, 122. 
Forest reservations, 401. 
Fort Donelson, 288. 
Fort Du Quesne, 72, 76. 
Fourth of March, " Inauguration Day," 

140. 
Fox, Charles James, 128. 
France, struggle for colonial empire, 
69-77. 

supports America, 116. 



Ixiv 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



France, relations with United States, 
151. 

difficulties with, 155. 

"X. Y. Z. correspondence," 156. 

treaty with, 157. 
" Franking," abolished, 352. 
Franklin, Benjamin, plan of union, 73. 

on American Submission, 86. 

on French and Indian war, 79. 

anecdotes of, 108, 136. 

on capture of Philadelphia, 114. 

envoy to France, 116, 117. 

in Constitutional Convention, 136. 

founds American Philosophical So- 
ciety, 407. 
Fredericksburg, 293. 
Freedmeu's Bureau Bill, 334. 
Free-soil party, 247. 
Fremont, .John C, in California, 240. 

candidate for President, 264. 

on slavery, 294. 

nomination in 1864, 1521. 
French, the, part of America held by 
them, 50. 

as colonists in America, 53-55. 

activity in 1754, 70. 

at Yorktown, 129. 
French and Indian war, 71-79. 

conditions of peace, 78. 
"French Spoliation Claims," origin of, 

157. 
Friends or Quakers, in Maryland, 27. 

in New .Jersey, 39, 40. 

in Pennsylvania, 44. 

in Massachusetts, 58. 
Frobisher, Martin, 9. 
Fugitive Slave Law, 1850, 250. 
Fulton, Robert, 1()9. 

" Fundamental Orders of Connecticut," 
23. 



G. 

Gadsden Purchase, 241 (note). 
" Gag Resolutions," the, 218. 
Garfield, James A., life, 365. 

President, 366. 

assassinated, 366. 
Garrison, William Lloyd, 217. 
Gas, 214. 
Gas, natural, 402. 



Gaspee, burnt, 92. 
Gates, General, 112, 127. 
Genet, 152. 
Geneva, Arbitration, 345. 

Award, 347. 
George III. and the colonists, 103. 
Georgia, Charter, 33. 

settlement of, 33. 

not in First Colonial Congress, 96. 
Georgia, the, 302, 319. 
Germantown, battle of, 114. 
Gettysburg, 299. 
Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 9. 
Gold, discovered in California, 244. 

in Colorado, 267. 

premium on, 305. 
Goodyear, Charles, 2.52. 
Gorges, Sir Ferdinando, 24. 
Gosnold, Bartholomew, 10. 
Gough, John B., 216. 
Grant, Ulysses S., life, 343. 

at FortDonelson, 288. 

at Pittsburg Landing, 288. 

takes Vicksburg, 297, 299. 

in command of all armies, 311. 

plans for attacking Confederacy, 312. 

terms at Appomattox, 326. 

elected President, 337. 

Indian policy, 344. 

renominated and elected, .348. 
Great Lakes, agreement concerning, 
185. 

traffic on, 403. 
Great Salt Lake City, 232. 
Greeley, Horace, 349. 
Greenback party, 356. 
" Greenbacks," .305. 
Greene, General Nathanael, 127. 
" Green Mountain Boys," 99. 
Guilford Court House, battle of, 127. 



H. 

Hamilton, Alexander, in Constitutional 

Convention, 136. 
the "Federalist," 138. 
Secretary of the Treasury, 147. 
plan for paying debt of United 

States, 148. 
relations with .Jefferson, 151. 
duel with Burr, 164. 



INDEX. 



Ixv 



Hamilton, Alexander, Bank of the 

United States, 180 (note). 
Hancock, John, 92, 98, 107. 
Harrison, Benjamin, President, 381, 
382. 

life, 382. 

civil service under, .383. 
Harrison, William Henry, at Tippe- 
canoe, 170. 

in War of 1812, 173. 

elected President, 225. 

life, death, 225. 
Hartford, 23. 

Hartford Convention, 177. 
Harvard College founded, 6'S. 
Hawaiian dillficulties, 390. 
Hayes, Rutherford B., life, 360. 

administration, 3(il. 

inauguration ,_ 361 . 
Henry, Patrick, speech against Stamp 
Act, 85. 

opposes Constitution, 137. 
Herald, the New York, 215. 
'•Holy Alliance," 190. 
Homestead labor troubles, 391. 
Hood, GeneralJ. B., 315. 
Hooker, General Jos., 293, 298. 
Houston, General Samuel, 233. 
Howe, Elias, Jr., 251. 
Hudson, Henry, and Hudson River, l-l. 
Hull, General Wm., surrenders Detroit, 

173. 
Hutchinson, Anne, 22, 114. 



Immigration, in 1850, 251. 

foreign, 400. 
Immigration Bill, 394. 
Impressment of sailors by Great Britain, 

167, 171, 172, 179. 
Independence of Colonies. See Declara- 
tion of Independence. 
Independence Hall, 106. 
Indentured servants, 29, 30. 
Indians, why so called, 6. 

mode of life, 2. 

groups and tribes of, 4. 

"Six Nations," 4. 

number in North America, 48, 49, 
note, and Appendix V., p. xxviii. 



Indians, treatment by the Dutch, 14. 

relations with English colonists, 47- 
49. 

relations with the French, 54. 

Pequot War, .50. 

King Philip's War, 52. 

employment by British and by colo- 
nies, 119, 121. 

retaliation upon, 118. 

wars, after Revolution, 149. 

Sioux War, 355. 

Grant's Peace Policy, 344. 

"Modoc War," 349. 

"Dawes Bill," 415. 
India-rubber, 252. 
Indigo in the Carolinas, 32. 
Inland commerce, 403. 
Intercolonial wars, 65-79. 
Interior Department, established, 252. 
Internal improvements, 165, 186, 191, 

197. 
International copyright, 388. 
Interstate Commerce Act, 376. 
"Intolerable Acts of Parliament," the 

five, 94. 
Intolerance in the colonies, 57. 
Invention, 403. 
Iron in Pennsylvania, 214. 
Iroquois Indians, 4. 
Irrigation, 401. 
Isabella, Queen of Spain, encourages 

Columbus, 5. 
Italy, difficulty with, 389. 



Jackson, Andrew, in Creek AVar, 
174. 

New Orleans, 178. 

course in Florida, 184. 

elected President, 200. 

character, 202-204. 

removals from office, 202, 203. 

re-elected, 206. 

"removal of deposits." 206. 

Nullification Proclamation, 206. 

Foreign affairs, 219. 

"pet banks," 220. 

" Specie Circular," 220. 

retires, 220. 
Jackson. C. T., 230. 



Ixvi 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Jackson, General Thos. J. ("Stone- 
wall"), his ability, 292. 

in Shenandoah Valley, 291. 

killed, 298. 
Jamestown, Virginia, settlement, 12. 
Japan, Perry's treaty with, 255. 
Jay, John, Chief Justice, 147. 
Jay's Treaty, 152. 

Jefferson, Thomas, drafts Declaration 
of Independence, 106. 

relations with Hamilton, 151. 

Kentucky Resolutions, 157. 

election as President, 158. 

inaugural address, 160. 

policy, 161. 

re-elected President, 165. 

removals from office, 203. 

dies, 199. 
Jetties, Mississippi, 364. 
Johns Hopkins University, 405. 
Johnson, Andrew, nominated for Vice- 
President, 320. 

becomes President, 327. 

life, 331. 

views of reconstruction, 332. 

relations with Congress, 334, 336. 

removes Stanton, 336. 

impeached, 336. 
Johnston, General Jos. E., commands 
Confederate army, 291. 

wounded, and retired, 291. 

supersedes Bragg, 300. 

removed, 315. 

replaced in command, 324. 

surrenders, 327. 
Johnstown Flood, 383. 
Joliet, 53. 
Jones, John Paul, 119. 



Kansas, troubles in, 260. 
Kansas-Xebraska Bill, 256. 
Kearsarge and Alabama, 319. 
Kentucky, 120, 149. 
Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, 

157. 
Kidd, Captain, 62. 
King George's War, 67. 
King Phillip's War, 52. 
King William's War, 65. 



"Kitchen Cabinet," 203. 
Knights of Labor, 378. 
Know-Nothing party, 257. 
"KukluxKlan," 341. 



Labor troubles, 377. 

Lafayette, comes to America, 111. 

visit to America, 194-196. 
Land claims, 132, 133. 
La Salle, 53. 

Lee, General Charles, 112, 117. 
Lee, General Robert E., life, 291. 

commands Confederate army, 291. 

invades Maryland, 292. 

invades Maryland and Pennsylvania, 

1863, 298. 
surrenders, 326. 
Legal tender, definition, 305 (note). 
Leisler, Jacob, 37. 
Leland Stanford, Jr., University, 

405. 
Lewis and Clark Expedition, 163. 
Lexington and Concord, 98. 
Liberal Republicans, 349. 
Liberty Bell, in 1776, 106. 

broken, 219 (note). 
Liberty party, 224. 
Liberty, statue of, 379. 
Libraries, 406. 
Lincoln, Abraham, biography, 274. 

Black Hawk War, 208. 

on Mexican AVar, 238. 

nomination, 1860, 269. 

inauguration, 274. 

calls for volunteers, 277. 

emancipation, 295. 

renomination, 320. 

re-election, 322. 

second inaugural. Appendix IX.. p. 

XXV. 

assassinated, 326. 

his greatness, 327. 
Literature, review of, 215, 407. 
Locke, John, model government for 

Carolinas, 30. 
London Company, 12. 
Lottery legislation, 387, 414. 
Louisiana, origin of the name, 54. 

Lottery, 388 (note). 



INDEX. 



Ixvii 



Louisiana, Purchase, 161-163, 185 (note). 
Lovejoy, Elijah P., killed, 223. 



M. 

Madison, James, advocates Annapolis 
Conference, 135. 

Virginia Resolutions, 157. 

President, 169. 

character, 169. 
Magazines, 410. 

Magellan's (Majell'au) voyage, 7. 
Maine, 24. 

acquired by Massachusetts, 24. 
Manhattan, 14. 

Manufactures, restrictions upon, 82. 
Marshall, John, Chief Justice, 158, 219. 
Marquette, 53. 
Maryland, charter, 24, 26 (note). 

boundaries, 25 (note). 

origin of name, 25. 

first settlement, 26. 

religious toleration, 26. 

Roman Catholics in, 26, 27. 

Toleration Act, 27. 

land claims, 133. 

attitude towards secession, 278. 
Mason, Captain John, 24. 
Mason and Dixon's Line, 41. 
Mason and Slidell, 285. 
Massachusetts Bay Colony, 17-21. 

peculiarities of, 19. 

charter brought to America, 19. 

acquires Maine, 24. 

forfeiture of charter, 56. 
Massachusetts Bill, 94. 
Matches, friction, introduction, 214. 
3fayflowe7\ the, 16. 
" Mayflower Compact," 16, Appendix L, 

p. iii. 
McClellan, Geo. B., commands Army of 
the Potomac, 284. 

Peninsular Campaign, 290. 

removed from command, 293. 

nominated for President, 321. 
McKinley, William, 416. 

nominated for President, 415. 

election of, 417. 
"McKinley Bill," 386. 
Meade, General Geo. G., commands 
Army of Potomac, 299. 



" Mecklenburg Declaration of Indepen- 
dence," 105. 
Merrimac and Monitor, 289. 
Mexican Cession, 241. 
Mexican War, 2.36-242. 

declaration, 237. 
t Taylor's campaign, 237, 238. 

Scott's campaign, 240. 

terms of peace, 241. 

cost of, 241. 
Mexico, French in, 339. 

Maximilian in, 339. 
"Mills Bill," 381. 
" Minute Men," 98. 
Mississippi, jetties, 364. 

floods, 1882, 368. 
Missouri Compromise, 188, 189. 
"Modoc War," 349. 
Monitor and Mernmac, 289. 
Monmouth, battle of, 117. 
Monroe Doctrine, the, 190. 
Monroe, James, elected President, 181. 

life, 181. 

tour as President, 183. 

re-elected President, 189. 
Montcalm, the Marquis of, 75. 
Morgan's Raid, 300. 
Mormons, early history, 230-232. 

Nauvoo, 231. 

in Utah, 2.32. 

Buchanan's action, 266. 

Anti-Polygamy, Bill, 367. 
Morris, Robert, 123. 
Morse, S. F. B.. 229. 
Morton, W. T. G., 230. 
Mound Builders, Indians, 3. 
" Mugwumps," 373. 
Murfreesboro, Battle, 293. 
Muskogee Indians, 4. 

N. 

Napoleon, Berlin Decree, 166. 

Milan Decree, 167. 

sells Louisiana, 162. 
National Bank, 180, and note. 
National Bank Act, 307. 
National Democrats, 41(5. 
National feeling, increase of, 182. 
National Republicans, 200. 
"National Road," 166. 



Ixviii 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



"Nat Turner" Insurrection, 217. 

Naturalization Act, 1870 (English), 340. 

Naturalization Law, 164. 

Naval Victories in War of 1812, 173. 

Navigation Acts, 55, 81-83. 

Navy, American, in Revolution, 119. 

in War of 1812, 172-174. « 

Negro troops, in Confederate army, 296. 

in United States army, 296. 
Nevada admitted, 323 (note). 
New (or Fort) Amsterdam, founded, 14. 

seized by English, 3(5. 
New England named by Captain John 
Smith, 15. 

United Colonies of, 51. 
New Hampshire, 24. 
New Jersey, 38-41. 

origin of name, 39. 

division of colony, 39. 

W^est Jersey sold to Friends (Qua- 
kers) , 39, 40. 
New Mexico taken, 238. 
New Netherland, 14, 34. 

seized by English, 36. 
New Orleans, battle of, 178. 

Cotton Exhibition, 371. 

Italian riot, 1891,389. 
" New South," 373, 404. 
New York (New Amsterdam), founded, 

seized by English, 36. [14. 

seized by Dutch, 37. 

restored to English, 37. 

Campaign (Revolution), 108-112. 

land claims, 133. 
New York City, reforms, 413. 
Newport, Rhode Island, founded, 22. 
Newspaper, the American, 215, 410. 

first in America, 65. 
Nicoll's, Richard, rule in New York, 36. 
Non-intercourse Act, 168. 
North, the, how prepared for war in 

1861, 279-282. 
North, Lord, Prime Minister, 93. 
North Carolina, 30-32. 

feeling in, regarding independence, 
105. 

See Carolinas. 
Northmen, 4. 
Northwest Territory, 146. 
Norumbega (New England), 15. 
Nullification, 205. 



Oglethorpe, General James, 33. 

Ohio admitted, 164. 

Ohio Company, 70. 

Oklahoma, 383. 

Old Ironsides, 174. 

" Omnibus Bill," 249. 

Oratory, 216. 

" Orders in Council," Great Britain, 167, 

171, 179. 
Ordinance of 1787, 146, 148. 
Oregon, Gray's visit, 163. 

dispute with Great Britain, 242, 243. 

Whitman's ride, 242. 

claims of United States, 244 (note). 
Organization of United States govern- 
ment, 1789, 147. 
Osceola, 208. 

"Ostend Manifesto," 259. 
Otis, James, on Taxation, 83, 



Pacific Ocean, discovered, 7, 

named, 8. 
Pacific Railroad, exploration for, 255. 

completed, 340. 
Pacific states, 404. 
Pan-American Congress, first, 197, 

of 1890, 384. 
Panic, of 1837, 220. 

of 1857, 266. 

of 1873, 350. 

of 1893, 396. 
Parks, National, 401, 414. 
Parties : 

Federalist, 137, 151, 156. 

Anti-Federalist, 151. 

Democratic-Republican, 151, 200. 

Anti-Masonic, 198. 

Democratic, 200. 

National Republican, 200, 

Whig, 220. 

Liberty, 224. 

Free-soil, 247. 

American (Know-Nothing), 257. 

Republican, 263, 

Liberal-Republican, 349. 

Greenback, 356. 

Prohibition, 356. 

People's (Populist), 393. 



INDEX. 



Ixix 



Parties : 

National Democratic, 414. 
Party feeling in United States (1789- 

1796), 151. 
Patroons, 38, 229. 

Peabody, George, education fund, 372. 
Peace Conference, 1861, 272. 
Peace party in North, 319. 
Pendleton, George H., nominated for 
Vice-President, 321. 

Civil Service Act, 367. 
Penn, William, 41-45. 

life, 41. 

relations to the Jerseys, 39, 40. 

acquires Pennsylvania, 41, 

disputes with Lord Baltimore, 41. 

frame of government, 43. 

treaty with the Indians, 44. 
Pennsylvania, 41-47. 

origin of name, 42. 

Charter, 42. 

Penn's frame of government, 43. 
Pennsylvania Hall, 224. 
Pensions, in North and South, 386, 387 

(note). 
Pension Bill, 386. 
People's Party, 393. 
Perry's victory, 172. 
" Personal Liberty Laws," 251. 
"Pet banks," 220. 
Petersburg, 314. 
Petroleum, 267. 
Philadelphia, founded, 44. 

in 1765, 89. 

captured by Howe, 113. 
Phillips, Wendell, 321. 
Physical training, 406. 
Pierce, Franklin, President, 254. 
Pilgrims, the, 15-17. 
Pirates, 62. 

Pitt, William (Earl of Chatham), Prime 
Minister, his character, 75. 

member of Parliament, 84 (note). 

on Stamp Act, 87. 
Pittsburg (Fort Du Quesne) , 76. 
Pittsburg Landing (Shiloh). 288. 
Plymouth Company, 12, 15. 
Plymouth Rock, 16. 
Pocahontas, 12. 
Polk, James K., life, 235. 

President, 234. 



Polk, James K., his measures, 235. 

accomplishes ends, 244. 
Ponce de Leon (Pontha da Laon [Span- 
ish] ; Ponssde Lee'on [English]), 7. 
Pontiac, conspiracy of, 79. 
"Populists," 39.3. 
Postage, rates of, 252, 253. 
Postage stamps used for change, 305. 
President, as executive officer, 142. 

salary raised, 352. 
Presidents, list of, Appendix, p. xxxii. 
Presidential Succession Act, 375. 
Prisoners of war, 29(). 
Privateers, Confederate, 301. 
Prohibition party, 356. 
Propeller, the screw, 214. 
Protection to home industries, 185, 186 

(note). 
Providence, Rhode Island, founded, 22. 
Pullman strike, 412. 
Puritans, 19, 21. 



Quakers. See Friends. 
Quartering Act, 95. 
Quebec taken by Wolfe, 77. 
Quebec Act, 95. 
Queen Anne's War, 66. 
Quorum, what is a, 385. 

R. 

Railroads, the first in America, 212. 

first jiassenger, 212. 
Railroad strikes, 3(53, 412. 
Ralegh, Sir Walter, 8. 
Reapers, 213. 
Reciprocity measure, 386. 
Reconstruction, measures, 333-336. 

acts, 334. 

all states represented in Congress, 
342. 
Reed, Thomas B., Speaker, 386, 415. 
Religious intolerance, 57. 
Religious liberty in Rhode Island, 23. 
Religious toleration, in Maryland, 2(5. 

in Pennsylvania, 43. 

in Rhode Island, 23. 
Removal of deposits, 206. 
Representation, popular, first represen- 
tative body in America, 14. 



Ixx 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Representation established in Massa- 
chusetts, 20. 

in England in eighteenth century, 83. 

in Congress, 258. Appendix VIII., 
p. xxxi. 
Republican party formed, 2(53. 
Repudiation, state, 222. 
Restoration of Charles II., 55. 
Resumption Act, 354. 
Resumption of Specie Payments, 3Ci. 
Returning boards, 357, 359. 
Revere, Paul, 98. 
Revenue, in 1789, 147. 

during Civil War, 304-307. 
Revolution, the, 100-131. 

British plans of attack, 108. 

how brought about, 131. 
Rhode Island and Providence planta- 
tions, 22. 

charters, 23. 

religious liberty in, 23. 

"Dorr War," 227. 
Rice in the Carolinas, 32. 
Richmond evacuated, 325. 
Roanoke Island, 9. 

Rosecrans, General AV. S., Chattanooga, 
299. 

S. 

St. Clair's Defeat, 149. 

" Salary Grab," 351. 

Salem, Massachusetts (Naumkeag), 18. 

San Domingo, proposed annexation, 340. 

Sanitary Commission, 329. 

San Salvador discovered by Columbus, 

6. 
Saratoga, battle of, 112. 
Savannah, founded, 33. 

taken by British, 126. 
Savcmnah, the, 210. 
Schuyler, General Philip, 112. 
Scott, General Winfield, in War of 1812, 
175. 

Mexican Campaign, 240. 

candidate for President, 254. 

in Civil War, 274, 282. 
" Scrub race for the Presidency," 192. 
Secession in 1860, 269. 

South Carolina, 269. 

other states, 270, 278. 
Sedition and Alien Laws, 156. 



Seminole War, 208. 
" Senate Bill," 411. 
Seven Years' War, 72. 
Seward, William H., in Congress, 254. 
Secretary of State, 274. 
peace negotiations, 325. 

buys Alaska, 338. 
Sewing machine, invented, 251. 
Shenandoah, the, 302. 
Sheridan, General Philip H., in Shenan- 
doah valley, 314. 

raids, 325. 
" Sherman Act," 388. 
Sherman, General Wm. T., life, 311. 

march, 316-318, 323. 

his orders, 317. 
Shiloh (Pittsburg Landing) , 288. 
Silver legislation. Bland Bill, 362. 

" Sherman Act," 388. 

" Sherman Act " repealed, 396. 
Sioux Indians, 4. 
Sioux Wars, 297, 355. 
" Sixteen to One," 415 (note). 
Slater, John F., 372. 
Slavery introduced into America, 13. 

slave trade in colonial times, 68. 

in Northwest Territory, 146. 

foreign slave trade abolished, 166. 

J. Q. Adams's opinion of, 219. 

in politics, 248. 

Emancipation Proclamation, 294. 

"Contrabands," 294. 

McClellan on, 294. 

Lincoln on, 294. See Abolitionists. 
Smith, Captain John, 12, 13, 15. 
Smith, Joseph (the Mormon), 230. 
Smith College, 406. 
Smithsonian Institution, 407. 
" Sons of Liberty," 85. 
South, the, education in, 215. 

in 1852, 2.^)7. 

how prepared for war in 1861, 279-282. 

revenue during Civil War, 30(j. 

prices of goods during Civil War, 
306. 

in 1884, 372. 

the " New South," 373, 404. 
South Carolina, 30-32. 

nullification, 207. 

secedes, 2(59. 
Spanish-American republics, 190. 



INDEX. 



Ixxi 



" Spoils System," rotation in office under 
Confederation, 164. 

under Jackson, 203. 
" Squatter Sovereignty," 256. 
Stamp Act, 84-87. 

Congress, 86. 

repealed, 86. 
Standard time, 369. 
Standish, Myles, 17. 
Star Spangled Banner, 176 (note) . 
State rights, 207, 272. 
States, the, origin of, 104. 

statistics of, Appendices, pp. xxvii, 
xxxi. 
Steamboat, Fulton's, 169. 
Stephens, Alex. H., becomes a leader, 
253. 

Vice-President of Confederacy, 270, 
271. 
Steuben, Baron, 111. 
Strikes, 363, 378, 412. 
Stuyvesant, Peter, 36, 38. 
Sub-Treasury, established, 222. 

abolished by Whigs, 244. 

re-established, 244. 
Sumner, Charles, enters Senate, 253. 

attacked, 263. 
Sumter, Fort, 272-278. 
Su7i, the New York, 215. 
Surplus of 1886, 380. 
Swedes in America, 14. 



Taney, Roger B., Secretary of the Treas- 
ury, 206. 

Chief Justice, 219. 

Dred Scott decision, 264. 

dies, 324. 
Tariff in first Congress, 148. 

of 1824, 191. 

of 1828, 199. 

of 1832, 205. 

of 1833, "Compromise," 206. 

of 1846, Revenue, 244. 

of 1861 (Morrill), 304. 

of 1883, 368. 

of 1891 (McKinley) , 386. 

of 1894, "AVilson Bill," "Senate 
Bill," 411. 
Taylor, General Zachary, Mexican Cam- 
paign, 238. 



Taylor, General Zachary, elected Presi- 
dent, 246. 

\\ie and character, 247. 

dies, ^48. 
Taxation without consent, 20, 

real object of English, 87. 

objections of colonists, 88. 

removal of taxes except upon tea, 93. 
Tea Tax, how received, 93, 
Tecumseh, 170, 173. 
Telegraph, invention of, 229. 
Telephone, 355. 
Temperance, reform movement, 216. 

crusade in Ohio, 350. 

Woman's Christian Temperance 
Union, 350. 
Tenure of Office Act, 336. 
Texas, 232-234. 

annexation, 233. 
Thomas, General George H., at Chicka- 
mauga, 300. 

at Nashville, 316. 
Thomson, Charles, 107, 145. 
Tico»deroga captured, 99. 
Tippecanoe, battle of, 170. 
" Tippecanoe and Tyler too," 224. 
Topical analysis (of this book) , Appen- 
dix XI., p. xxxix. 
Tories and Whigs, 98. 
Town meeting, 20. 
Townsheud Acts, 90. 
Transportation, 403. 
Transportation Bill, 94. 
Treaties, with Great Britain, 131, 226. 

France, 116. 

Spain, 153. 

Algiers, 153. 

Tripoli, 153. 

Ghent, 178. 

Guadaloupe Hidalgo (Gwa-da-loop'a 
Hedal'go),241. 

Germany, 340. 

China, 340. 

of Washington (1871), 345. 
Trent, the, 255. 
Tribune, the New York, 215. 
Tripoli, war with, 164. 
Tulane University, 405. 
Tyler, John, A^ice-President, 225. 

becomes President, 225. 

his course, 226. 



Ixxii 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



U. 



" Uncle Tom's Cabin," 256. 
" Underground Railroad," 265. 
" United Colonies of New England, 51. 
United States, independence declared, 
105. 

organization of government, 141-147. 

commerce injured by Great Britain 
and France, 167. 

in 1825, 195. 

material development, 209. 

out of debt, 219. 

surplus revenue, 1836, 219. 

forty-six states, 415. 

statistics of, Appendix, pp. xxviii- 
xxxi. 
United States Bank, first, 180 (note). 

second, 180, 205. 
University extension, 406. 
University of Virginia, 215. 
Urban population, 401, Appendix VI., 

p. xxix. 
Utah, 2.32. 

admitted as a state, 415. 



V. 

Valley Forge, 114. 

Van Buren, Martin, Secretary of State, 
204. 

elected President, 219. 

life, 220. 

proposes Sub-Treasury, 222. 

nominated by " Free-Soilers," 247. 
Vassar College, 406. 
Venezuela Boundary Dispute, 417. 
Vermont, 149. 
Vicksburg, 297, 299. 
Virginia, 12-14, 27-30. 

so called by Ralegh, 9. 

charter of 1609, 13. 

House of Burgesses, 14. 

a royal colony, 28. 

Bacon's Rebellion, 28. 

House of Burgesses, protests against 
Boston Port Bill, 95. 

proposes General Congress, 95. 

proposes independence, 105. 
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, 
156. 



W. 

Wagon trade, 210. 

Wallace, General Lew, delays Early, 313. 

Wars, King Philip's, 52. 

intercolonial, 65-77. 

" King William's," 65. 

" Queen Anne's," ti6. 

"■ King George's," 67. 

" French and Indian," 71-77. 
War of Independence, 100-131. 

of 1812, 171-179. 

Mexican, 236-242. 

Civil, 276-330. 
Washington, George, sent to the French, 
71. 

birth, 71 (note). 

surrenders to the French, 72. 

Braddock's expedition, 74. 

commander-in-chief, 101. 

refuses pay; his accounts, 101. 

assumes command, 102. 

New York campaign, 108-112. 

crosses the Delaware, 110. 

Trenton, 110. 

Valley Forge, 114. 

hampered by Congress, 115. 

presides at Constitutional Conven- 
tion, 135. 

President, 144-146. 

inauguration, 146. 

farewell address, 153. 

dies, 168. 
Washington City, the capital, 158. 
Washington Centennial, 383. 
Washington Monument finished, 370. 
Washingtonian movement, 216. 
Waterworks, 214. 

Wayne, General Anthony, 124, 149. 
Weather Bureau, .351. 
Webster, Daniel, on Adams and Jeffer- 
son, 199. 
Webster, Daniel, on "Spoils System," 
203. 

as an orator, 216. 

Ashburton Treaty, 226. 

on Fugitive Slave Law, 249. 

Seventh of March Speech, 249. 

dies, 250. 
Wellesley College, 406. 
Wesley, John and Charles, in Georgia, 34. 



INDEX. 



Ixxiii 



West, the, settlement of, 120. 

settlement as affected by railroads, 
211, 212. 
West Point, Arnold's treason, 125. 
West Virginia, admitted, 323. 
Western reserve, 133. 
Whigs (1836) , 220. 
AVhigs and Tories, 98. 
Whiskey Frauds, 354. 
Whiskey Insurrection, 149. 
Whitefield, George, in Georgia, 34. 
Whitman, Marcus, his ride, 242. 
Whitney, Eli, 149. 
Whittier, John G., 408. 

office burnt, 224. 
" Wilderness," the, 313. 
AVilkes, Captain Charles, 285, 286 (note). 
William and Mary College founded, 63. 
William Penn Charter School, 405. 
Williams, Roger, 21-23, 51. 
Wilmot Proviso, 246. 



"Wilson Bill," 411. 

Winthrop, John, 20. 

Witchcraft delusion, 59. 

Wolfe, General James, at Quebec, 76. 

Woman's Christian Temperance Union, 

351. 
Women, higher education of, 405. 
World's Fair in New York, 1853, 255. 
Wyoming, Massacre of, 118. 



" X. Y. Z. correspondence," 156. 



Yale College founded, 63. 
Yellow Fever, 363. 
York, Duke of, grant to, 34, 36. 
Yorktown, campaign and surrender, 
129-131. 
centennial celebration, 370. 



4 



I 



